More than BGN 1.2 billion was allocated hitherto for employment and social inclusion for dealing with the consequences of the Kovid-19 pandemic in Bulgaria, said Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva at the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Operational Program "Human Resources Development", which discussed the progress and amendment of the program, the Ministry press office announced. Sacheva also said that the funds are provided equally by the state budget and the European Social Fund.

Over B GN 585 million have been transferred to this moment to companies and businesses that have applied for aid under the government's most popular measure - 60/40 to maintain the employment rate at pre-crisis levels. State compensation amounts to 60 percent of the wages and social security contributions due, and employers are required to provide the remaining 40 percent.

Currently, the businesses can apply for aid under the third version of the measure. It starts in October, and the application will be submitted until December 15.

In the current version of the measure relief is envisioned except for companies in the "hotel and restaurant sector" also for the so-called "occasional services". They have no obligation to keep seasonal workers after the end of the winter tourist season. Companies that received funds under the measure before October administrative requirements for filing documents are eased.

The option for employers and self-insured workers from the sectors "Transport", "Hotels & Restaurants" and "Tourism", whose revenues have decreased by not less than 20 percent over a certain period, is a payment of compensation worth of BGN 290/month. The measure is more popular as 80/20, because if combined with 60/40, the overall support for the sector could reach the 80/20 ratio.

Under this program, employees will be entitled to financial support, but for no more than 60 days during which they have taken unpaid leave in connection with the restrictions imposed on the activity for which they are employed.

For employees on an 8-hour working day agreed in their main employment contract, the compensation will be BGN 24 for each day spent on unpaid leave. In the case of part-time work, the amount of compensation will be determined in proportion to the agreed working hours in the employment contract.

However, if a parent receives monthly targeted assistance under Council of Ministers Regulation No 218 from 17.08.2020 to the Social Assistance Agency, they will not be entitled to compensation under this project.

"Employment for you"

This project, launched from 1 July 2020, provides support for the employment of unemployed persons full-time or part-time (at least 4 hours) for a period of up to 6 months. In order to ensure sustainability, the employer was obliged to comply with a number of requirements.

With the adoption of new more relaxed conditions - from 27 November these criteria have been changed.

What the changes are:

• an increase in the subsidized period of employment to 6 months instead of the previous 3 months;

• the commitment of employers to keep 75% of newly hired staff for a period equal to half of the subsidized employment period is reduced (until now the condition was to keep employment for a period equal to the entire period of subsidized employment);

• the maximum allowable amount for new jobs applied for by an employer will be increased relative to the list of staff for 2019 for the month corresponding to the month of filing the application.

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