site.btaChamber of Commerce Shows 64%of Employers Plan Christmas Bonuses for Staff

Sofia, December 11 (BTA) - About 64 per cent of employers are planning Christmas bonuses for their staff and another 15 per cent still have not made a final decision, a poll conducted by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) shows. The poll was conducted between November 22 and 29, BCCI said.

Companies give bonuses at the end of the year mainly because of Christmas, 66 per cent of the respondents planning to do so said. Sixteen per cent think the reason is the good financial condition and 11 per cent - that the bonuses couple the holidays and the successes of the relevant company. About 6 per cent cited other reasons related to the socially responsible policy of their company.

Bad financial condition is the reason why most employers will not pay bonuses (70 per cent of this group of companies). The remaining 30 per cent said they pay high enough salaries or give bonuses for jobs done.

Christmas bonuses are most frequently up to 500 leva (87 per cent of the interviewees), the poll shows. About 9 per cent of the employers plan bonuses in the 500-1,000 leva range and only 4 per cent - above 1,000 leva. The share of companies planning to give equal bonuses to all their staff and those who choose them according to individual performance is equal (55 per cent). The main indicator about the amount of the bonus is the level of a position for 11 per cent of the companies.

In the case of 30 per cent of the employers, bonuses will be higher than last year's, while the bulk of 65 per cent will be identical to last year's. In just 5 per cent of the cases the amount of the bonus will be smaller than in 2016.

The poll shows that the days between Christmas and New Year will be work days for 38 per cent of the companies because they cannot allow suspension of production processes or will sustain losses. Another 62 per cent are considering partial or entire holidays because they have the operational opportunity and because their partners are taking a holiday too.

Less than half (46 per cent) of the respondents intend to raise the salaries of their staff next year, 27 per cent still have not decided and 17 per cent will retain the same salaries while 2 per cent will reduce them. About 8 per cent responded they will take into consideration the trends on the labour market.