The head of Bulgaria's Hailstorm Protection Agency is said to be removed over charges of illegally accruing a paid leave of over 300 days.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has demanded that Ventsislav Tsenov be ousted from the post of head of Bulgaria's Hailstorm Agency, announced Wednesday Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov.

Borisov's decision was prompted by an inspection of the Agriculture Ministry which concluded that Tsenov has unlawfully increased his own paid leave and that of his employees to up to 100 days which amounts to a total cost of over BGN 1 600.

Tsenov is also accused of illegally expanding the number of his payroll staff by 74.

The Bulgarian government has approved Wednesday an amendment to Bulgaria's Labor Code according to which all accrued paid leaves must be used up by the end of 2011.

The accrued paid leaves have become a rather contentious issue for the Bulgarian Cabinet and the trade unions.

It has turned out that many government and business employees have not used their annual paid leaves for years. Thus some of them can now use a paid leave of up to year and a half which is deemed a detriment to the state's economy.

Once Parliament approves the amendments to Bulgaria's Labor Code, all future paid leaves will have to be used up within the respective year. In case of extreme circumstances, however, employers will be allowed to transfer leaves to the first ten days of the next year.