Around 400 companies in Bulgaria delay salaries by four-plus months, according to statistics of the General Labor Inspectorate (GLI).

Rumyana Mihaylova, GLI Executive Director, informed Thursday that a total of nearly 15 000 workers faced delayed salaries amounting to around BGN 31 M.

She noted, however, that a slight decrease in the number of employers delaying salaries to their employees was observable at the end of the year.

Mihaylova, as cited by Darik radio, said that recent data pointed to a total of 1582 firms delaying salaries to their staff, or around 4% of the total of inspected companies.

She went on to explain that only 2% of the 400 employers with the longest salary delays were big companies, 13% of them had a staff of 50 – 250, and 85% were small companies.

The GLI Executive Director stated that the companies with the most prolonged salary delays were based in the regions of Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Burgas, and Montana and operated in the sectors of construction, road transport, security services, and food production.

She pointed out that some employers were expected to provide one full salary to their workers for the Christmas and New Year holidays, adding that it could not be described as a trend.

Mihaylova also stated that the companies delaying salaries faced an initial fine of BGN 1500 – 2000 and a penalty of up to BGN 10 000 in the case of a repeat offence.

The GLI Executive Director boasted that 42 000 people had switched from a fake 4-hour contract for a full time job to an official 8-hour contract.