site.btaEmployers Request Scrapping of Seniority Bonus

Sofia, July 24 (BTA) - The Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (ABEA) want the seniority bonus (for length of service) scrapped, it emerged at a BTA-hosted news conference Monday.

The Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, Vassil Velev, who currently also heads ABEA, said the restructuring of salaries and waiver of the seniority bonus, which will be included in monthly salaries will allow for equality between workers and employees.

This will put an end to discriminatory differences among civil servants, for whom such a change has been in force for years. The waiver of the seniority bonus will mean overcoming the unfounded difference in the remuneration of people who do the same job but have done so for different periods of time.

In Velev's opinion, such a step will not limit the rights of employees, as the amount they receive will not change. In addition, it will allow the return of workers and employees the employment of whom is difficult now on the labour market.

The Chairman of the Board of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, Kiril Domouschiev, said the confederation supports all proposals tabled by ABEA. What is put forward is a very courteous solution in which all payments, including the seniority bonus, will be part of the salary. This means that no party will sustain damages, including the budget. And it also means fair treatment. In his opinion, the bonus is yet another example of administrative and bureaucratic burden for which enterprises pay to have seniority calculated.

ABEA also declared themselves for waiver of the minimum contributory insurance income thresholds. They suggest that Item 3 of Article 6 (2) of the Social Insurance Code should be rescinded. It provides for the determination of minimum contributory income by positions and economic activities. The association also proposes that negotiations to determine the minimum contributory income for 2018 should be put off until the state and the social partners adopt a model for its calculation.

The employers propose that the minimum contributory income for the country should be calculated as a gross figure including all additional payments, or else they suggest a waiver of seniority bonuses.