‘Andrey Delchev & Partners’ developed an action plan for state financial support for business

‘Andrey Delchev & Partners’ developed an action plan for state financial support for business

04.04.2020
Екипът на Андрей Делчев и партньори разработи План за действие за получаване на финансиране от държавата

‘Andrey Delchev & Partners’ Law Office developed an Action Plan to help more companies obtain state financial support according to the scheme ‘60/40’ – a scheme adopted by Decree 55 of 30 March 2020, laying out the procedure for compensation payments to employers as a way to preserve employment. A summary of the Action Plan is outlined below:

Goal:

An employer may receive financial support from the state budget in the amount of 60% of the insurable income for Jan 2020 of all employees with ongoing labor relationship in the enterprise.

The funds to be distributed under the scheme total around BGN 1 billion.

Term:    

The deadline for applications is 21 April 2020. Prompt submission of applications is recommendable in the face of possible expenditure of the scheme budget prior to the collection of all financial support applications.

Step 1: Check if you are eligible for support

Employers eligible for financial support fall within one of the following three categories:

1/ The first category employers – those who have suspended the business operations of the enterprise or a part of the enterprise following an order of a government authority.

Example: amusement and gambling halls, discotheques, bars, fast food establishments, beverage establishments, coffee shops, shopping malls, schools, kindergartens, movie theaters, theaters, museums, concert halls, conferences halls, gyms, SPA centers, sports centers, etc. businesses, closed on 13 March 2020 by an Emergency Order of the Health Minister.

2/ Second and third category are all other employers who:

have suffered a revenue drop of 20 percent in month preceding the application as compared to the same month in the previous 2019;

have suspended with an act of the employer the business operations of the entire enterprise, a part of the enterprise or of individual employees (second category), or who have adopted part-time working hours in the enterprise or in a particular department (third category).

Excluded from this provision are: agriculture, forestry and fisheries, financial and insurance services, government, education, health and social affairs, activities of foreign organizations and offices.

Step 2: Check if you comply with the General Terms and Conditions:

➔ You have to be a local natural or legal entity or a foreign legal entity carrying out its business in Bulgaria;  

➔ You have a clean tax and social security record, you have no outstanding tax and social security payments due to state or local budget, established by a valid act of a competent authority;

➔ You are not subject to insolvency or liquidation proceedings;

➔ You have not breached the labor legislation over the last 6 months.

Step 3: How to apply to the directorate ‘Labor Office’

Documents are filed to the local Directorate “Labor Office”, servicing the territory of the place of work of the employees. If the place of work is district ‘Vazrazhdane’, Sofia, the documents are submitted to the Labor Office “Vazrazhdane” with address N 64, ‘Strandja’ Street.

Applications can be filed electronically, by a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, or as a final resort, on paper at the counter of the Labor Office. If filed electronically, the attached documents should be signed by an electronic signature, and sent by mail (for ‘Vazrazhdane’ at bt101@mbox.contact.bg).

The following documents are enclosed:
Application for compensation payment template and declaration;

List of employees concerned (on paper/scanned and electronically/excel table);
Certified copy of the Employer’s order for suspension of the work or for introduced part-time working hours;

A statement from the employer verifying decrease in the revenue for the employers from second and third category, such as: sales accounts, turnover balance sheets, etc.

Step 4: Receive Compensation

The filed documents are reviewed by a Committee at the Labor Office within 7 (seven) business days. If approval is given, the employer receives compensation from the National Social Security Institute to his bank account, stipulated in the application form.

The compensation covers 60% of the insurable income for January 2020 of all employees filed for compensation. The amount of compensation granted to employers who have adopted part-time working hours shall cover 60% of the insurable income for the non-worked out time, but not exceeding 4 hours per day.

Compensations are due to be paid for the period of the Emergency State Measures but not exceeding a period of 3 months.

Step 5: Reimbursement of received compensations

A sanction may be imposed on an employer to refund the received compensation in the following events:

the employer has failed to pay the full labor remuneration for the relevant month together with the due social security payments;

the employer has not retained the number of the employees eligible for receipt of compensation;

the employer terminates the employment contracts as per art. 328, para 1, item 2, 3 and 4 Labour Code of other employees, excluded from receipt of compensation, for the period of the ongoing compensation payment;

the employer declared false information;

It should be noted that the stipulated restrictions are valid ONLY for the period of received compensation by the employers.

No other restrictions shall apply to dismissal/ unilateral termination of employment relationships with other employees during the stipulated period (e.g. disciplinary dismissal).

For comments on the Action Plan please contact: Magdalena Valova, e-mail: m.valova@eurolex.bg

 

 

Other News