In October 2022, a "Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union" was approved to improve living and working conditions in the Union and, more particularly, the adequacy of minimum wages for employees.
Member States with statutory minimum wages should put in place procedures for setting and updating these minimum wages according to certain criteria.
At the beginning of February 2023, amendments to the Labour Code were adopted in Bulgaria, introducing a new mechanism for setting the national minimum wage.
The minimum wage for the next calendar year:
- shall be determined by 1 September of the current year;
- is set at 50 percent of the average gross wage over a 12-month period that includes the last two quarters of the previous year and the first two quarters of the current year;
- may not be less than the minimum wage determined for the preceding year.
The minimum wage for the country is currently BGN 780 and by 1September 2023 it is expected to be determined for 2024.
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