WHAT WILL THE ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT RECORD LOOK LIKE?

The electronic employment record will be an electronic register in which data will be entered that are now filled in paper, explained in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the world in focus" on Radio "Focus" Maria Mincheva, Vice President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA).

"The employer will have access as at present. At the conclusion of the employment contract, the worker must provide his or her paper employment record. At the same time, upon conclusion of the employment contract, after the creation of the register, the employer will have access to all the data that predates this employment contract, with the previous employers. That is, what we see now on paper, we will continue to see it as employers," Mincheva explained.

According to her, people very often lose their labour books, "We don't take care of these documents. But they are important to us and we think of them either when we have to start a new job or when a person has to retire and it turns out that he does not know where this very important document for the end of his working career is.

Not to mention that the seal is missing, the signature is missing, there are cross-outs somewhere. Hence the walking around, searching for old archives that may no longer exist. And even 7-8 years ago it was clear where the world was going and that we could benefit from the opportunities that digitisation gives us. Employers have been submitting a range of employment-related data to the NRA since 2006, and this covers in practice almost 90% of what is recorded in the employment record. There will be little to supplement the data that is submitted to the NRA," she said.

Mincheva clarified that the NRA will remain the body that will administer this employment register: 'It will gradually be supplemented with those who are under employment relationships and will gradually stop filling in employment books. This will take place after 2025. The law is expected to be supported now, in September, on second reading in committees and in plenary in Parliament, will come into force in June 2025."

The Vice President of BIA added that with regard to personal data the Personal Data Protection Act and the regulation, which is at European level, apply, so all these things are regulated: "Actually the employment record book the only thing it is used for, it is two things: one is to calculate the seniority class when the salary is charged - it is based on the previous experience that the employee has, and the second thing is at retirement.

After 1997, the retirement data in the NSSI is kept in electronic format and gradually the paper document is transformed into a digital one. We don't need the paper employment record; nobody needs this document. And in fact, if there are any document losses, erasures, deletions, corrections on these documents, the only things that remain are the negative consequences for people," said Maria Mincheva.