Disability Employment Quota in Bulgaria: Employer Obligations

For the purposes of the Persons with Disabilities Act, persons with permanent disabilities include persons for whom a medical expert assessment has established a type and degree of disability or permanently reduced working capacity of 50 per cent or more and who meet the other elements of the statutory definition. 

Employers with fewer than 50 employees are not subject to the mandatory quota under Article 38(1) of the Persons with Disabilities Act. Employers with between 50 and 99 employees must employ one person with a permanent disability. Employers with 100 or more employees are subject to a quota equal to 2 per cent of their average headcount. 

For the practical application of the quota regime, the employer's average headcount is established on the basis of data for the preceding calendar year. Changes in workforce numbers during the current year therefore do not, by themselves, result in a recalculation of the quota already determined for that year. 

A specific rule applies to newly established enterprises. Their obligation to comply with the quota arises in the calendar year following the year of their registration. 

Positions designated under Article 315 of the Bulgarian Labour Code for the occupational reassignment of persons with reduced working capacity do not count towards compliance with the quota under Article 38 of the Persons with Disabilities Act. 

Existing employees with permanent disabilities may count towards the quota where they occupy positions outside those designated under Article 315 of the Labour Code. Where the employer already employs the required number of qualifying persons, it is not required to make additional appointments solely for the purpose of meeting the quota. 

Where necessary and depending on the type and degree of disability, Article 40 of the Persons with Disabilities Act imposes a separate obligation on the employer to adapt the workplace to the needs of the person with a disability. 

Each year, no later than the end of January, the employer must prepare a list identifying the positions designated for compliance with the quota. The list is retained at the enterprise and must be produced upon request by the control authorities of the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency. 

Where the quota is not already met, the employer must take appropriate recruitment action by 31 March each year. The legislation does not require every employer to use public or private employment intermediation in all cases. 

Where the employer wishes to use employment intermediation, it must notify the relevant territorial division of the Employment Agency at the place of its registered office. The notification may identify vacant positions for candidates referred by a Labour Office Directorate and positions for which a registered private employment intermediary will be used. 

Within 3 months of taking the relevant recruitment action, the employer must appoint a person with a permanent disability where that person meets the requirements for the position. Where an unemployed person with a permanent disability is referred by a Labour Office Directorate, the employer must notify the relevant territorial division of the Employment Agency of the outcome within 7 working days of the referral. 

No compensation contribution is due during this 3-month period. 

The Persons with Disabilities Act provides two grounds on which an employer may be exempt from the quota until the end of the relevant calendar year. These grounds are not cumulative. 

The first ground concerns specific factors in the working environment that prevent the employment of persons with permanent disabilities. The Act links the assessment of these factors to the number of employees working under first or second category labour conditions, employees working under an established reduced working time regime and employees entitled to additional paid annual leave under Article 156(1)(1) of the Labour Code. The relevant circumstances must be supported by a written justification prepared by the employer jointly with its occupational health service and are certified by the General Labour Inspectorate. 

The second ground is the absence of persons with permanent disabilities referred by Labour Office Directorates or by employment intermediaries holding the required registration certificate for employment intermediation. This circumstance is also subject to certification by the General Labour Inspectorate under the applicable procedure. 

An exemption therefore does not arise merely on the basis of an internal assessment or management decision by the employer. 

Employers that do not qualify for an exemption under Article 38(3) of the Persons with Disabilities Act may use the alternative measures provided for in the Regulations for the Implementation of the Persons with Disabilities Act. 

An alternative measure may consist of purchasing goods produced or traded, or services provided, by specialised enterprises or cooperatives of persons with disabilities. Employers may also purchase goods or services directly from persons with disabilities carrying out independent economic activity, as well as from qualifying Class A social enterprises or registered Class A+ social enterprises. 

The relevant expenditure must be evidenced by primary payment documents. For each unfilled quota position, the monthly expenditure under the alternative measure must be at least twice the statutory monthly minimum wage for the relevant calendar year. 

The statutory monthly minimum wage in Bulgaria for 2026 is EUR 620.20. Accordingly, the minimum monthly expenditure under an alternative measure for one unfilled quota position in 2026 is EUR 1,240.40. 

Where an alternative measure is validly implemented, the employer is released from the direct quota obligation for the relevant period and no compensation contribution is due for that same period. 

The compensation contribution becomes payable after the expiry of the 3-month recruitment period where the quota remains unfilled, the employer does not apply an eligible alternative measure and no exemption under Article 38(3) of the Persons with Disabilities Act applies. 

Under Article 38(6), the monthly compensation contribution is equal to 30 per cent of the statutory minimum wage for each unfilled position reserved for a person with a permanent disability and for each month of non-compliance. 

With the statutory minimum monthly wage set at EUR 620.20 for 2026, the compensation contribution for 2026 is EUR 186.06 per month for each unfilled quota position. 

The contribution must be paid no later than the last day of the month to which it relates. If that day is not a working day, payment must be made no later than the first following working day. The contribution may be paid voluntarily or collected compulsorily under the Bulgarian Tax and Social Security Procedure Code. 

Payment of compensation contributions for a particular period does not remove the employer's obligation to maintain compliance with the employment quota for future periods. 

The compensation contribution and the administrative sanction are separate legal consequences. The sanction under Article 97 of the Persons with Disabilities Act applies where the employer fails to comply with its obligation to pay the compensation contribution due under Article 38(6). 

Article 97 continues to state the statutory sanction thresholds in Bulgarian lev. Following the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2026, those amounts are applied in euro in accordance with the statutory rules governing the conversion of fines, pecuniary sanctions and other public obligations. 

Where a fine applies to the employer, the statutory range of BGN 1,000 to BGN 2,000 corresponds to EUR 511.29 to EUR 1,022.58. Where a pecuniary sanction applies, the statutory range of BGN 2,000 to BGN 5,000 corresponds to EUR 1,022.58 to EUR 2,556.46. 

For a repeat offence, the statutory fine or pecuniary sanction ranges from BGN 4,000 to BGN 10,000, corresponding after conversion to EUR 2,045.17 to EUR 5,112.92. 

Violations relating to the obligation under Article 38(6) are established by officials of the General Labour Inspectorate. Penalty decrees for employment-related violations are issued by the Executive Director of the General Labour Inspectorate or an authorised official. 

The annual compliance process should begin by establishing the employer's average headcount for the preceding calendar year and determining whether the employer falls within the scope of Article 38(1) of the Persons with Disabilities Act. 

The employer should then identify any existing employees with permanent disabilities who may count towards the quota, excluding positions designated under Article 315 of the Labour Code. By the end of January, the employer must also prepare and retain the list of positions designated for quota compliance. 

Where the quota remains unfilled, recruitment action must be taken by 31 March. If employment intermediation is used, the employer must comply with the applicable notification requirements and document the outcome of candidate referrals. 

Once the 3-month recruitment period has expired, the employer should have a clearly documented factual and legal basis for its method of compliance, whether through direct employment, an applicable exemption, an eligible alternative measure or payment of the statutory compensation contribution. 

Vassilev & Chisuse Law Firm provides legal assistance in connection with the Bulgarian disability employment quota regime, including reviews of workforce numbers and quota obligations, structuring and reviewing agreements for alternative measures, assistance in dealings with Labour Office Directorates and representation in proceedings before the General Labour Inspectorate and the administrative courts concerning administrative offence statements and penalty decrees. 

This material has been updated as of 24 September 2026 and is provided for general information purposes only. It does not constitute individual legal advice or a binding recommendation to take or refrain from any particular action. The application of the quota, available exemptions and the consequences of non-compliance should be assessed in light of the specific circumstances of each case.