Background information

The Employment Agency collects applications from employers within 7 days who wish to receive financial support in hiring the unemployed. Until 2 April 2021, including employers, they can submit documents to the labour offices. The National Employment Action Plan for 2021 envisages subsidising the employment of at least 1,965 newly hired unemployed and over 200 mentors.

Content of measure

For an internship or apprenticeship of an unemployed person, the state will pay up to BGN 630 salary per month and the due insurances. The worker must have been registered with the labor office for more than 6 months, be up to 24 years old or over 50 years old, with primary and lower education. Unemployed mothers with children up to 5 years old and others can also benefit from the measure. Incentives offer options for full-time or part-time work. The duration of the employment provided and the subsidy period also vary and vary from 3 to 12 months.

The Cooperation Councils at the labor offices will evaluate the submitted applications by 7 April 2021. The measure will be available to all unemployed people who meet the conditions.

In parallel, the Employment Agency provides financial preferences to the unemployed in order to stimulate their mobility when looking for or starting a job in another locality or entrepreneurship. Each labor office has funds for some of the various programs and measures, and the free funds are announced on the information board in each labor office in the country, where you can get complete information about the possibilities, procedures and conditions for granting preferences for the unemployed or employers.

Use of measure

The initially stated intentions are to provide employment to 2,000 unemployed. The measure is new, but may be extended at a later stage depending on interest and effectiveness. The worker must have been registered with the labour office for more than 6 months, be up to 24 years old or over 50 years old, with primary and lower education. Unemployed mothers with children up to 5 years old and others can also benefit from the measure. The minimum term for benefit from the measure is 3 months and the maximum 12 months.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Unemployed	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

The measure has not been discussed within the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. However, it was discussed informally with the social partners and they gave their unequivocal approval. Employers' organizations were informed in detail about the opportunities, as the application deadlines were extremely short - only 7 days. The trade unions assisted in the implementation. There were no objections.

Views and reactions

All trade unions and employers' organizations supported the measure. The aim is to reduce the unemployment rate and the negative effect of the pandemic on key macroeconomic indicators in the labor market. The measure is complementary to the others and should be seen in synergy with them. There were no objections, although the measure was not widely discussed with the social partners.

Sources

• 25 March 2021: Държавата плаща за наемане на 2000 безработни (trud.bg)
• 05 September 2022: A program for financial support for hiring the unemployed has been launched (www.investor.bg)