The legal regulation on the admissibility of overtime is contained in Art. 143-150 of the Bulgarian Labor Code. This is an excess of the contractually agreed working time by the employee. This work is performed in accordance with the employer's instructions or with the employer's knowledge and without the employer's consent (Art. 143 para. 1 of the Labor Code). The employee is not obliged to work overtime unless otherwise agreed. This time is worked outside regular working hours (e.g. before the start of the working day, after the end of the working day, during lunch breaks). Compensating overtime with breaks is prohibited. If overtime is worked, the specified duration of working time is always violated. There must be a declaration of intent by the employer. This declaration of intent can be in written form. In the case of operational necessity, the instruction can be issued after the overtime has been worked. Overtime can also be worked without a declaration of intent from the employer if the employer knows that the employee is working overtime and does not raise an objection. In this case, the employer must issue written instructions to the employee. If the employee performs his work without knowledge that this time constitutes overtime and there is no instruction from the employer, then this time is not recognized as overtime.
Pursuant to Art. 150 in conjunction with Art. 262 of the Labor Code, overtime work performed is compensated with an increase agreed between the employee and the employer. This increase may not be less than:
- 50% above the gross hourly wage for work on working days;
- 75% above the gross hourly wage for work on public holidays;
- 100% above the gross hourly wage for work on public holidays;
- 50 % above the gross hourly wage for work with totalized working time calculation.
Unless otherwise agreed, this increase is calculated on the basis of the remuneration specified in the employment contract.
The employer is obliged to keep a special book to record overtime, in which the following details are recorded:
- Full name of the employee,
- Number of the instruction to work overtime,
- Start and end of overtime,
- remuneration for the overtime and the day designated as compensatory time.
Art. 146 of the Labor Code sets the following limits for overtime:
- Annual limit: No more than 150 hours per year.
- Monthly limit: Up to 30 hours of day work or 20 hours of night work per month.
- Weekly limit: Up to 6 hours of day work or 4 hours of night work per week.
- Consecutive days: Up to 3 hours of day work or 2 hours of night work on two consecutive days.
These limits serve to protect the health of employees. Overtime is only permitted in exceptional cases or with the express consent of the employee. According to Art. 147 of the Labor Code, employers may not require certain groups of employees to work overtime, such as
- Persons under the age of 18;
- Pregnant women and women undergoing in vitro fertilization;
- Mothers with children up to 6 years of age or with disabled children;
- Employees with health restrictions, unless there is no risk to their health;
- Employees who are studying alongside their work.
Overtime is only permitted in the cases provided for by law (Art. 144 of the Labor Code):
- exceptional and urgent circumstances:
- In the event of accidents, natural disasters or other urgent situations in which urgent measures are required to protect people, property or the environment.
- In the event of unforeseeable operational or technical circumstances requiring urgent work.
- with the employee's consent:
-In cases where the employer and employee reach an agreement, overtime is permitted. The employee's consent must be given expressly and may not be enforced.
- fulfillment of public duties:
- When the employee is entrusted with the performance of important tasks related to public duties, such as tasks to maintain public order or to protect the population.
- to ensure a continuous production process:
- In production sectors where the continuous process is crucial (e.g. energy, healthcare), overtime may be necessary to avoid interrupting operations.
- in the event of military or civil mobilization:
In exceptional circumstances, such as war or mobilization, employees may be required to work overtime.