site.btaCurrent Interior Ministry Employees to Keep Their Perks as They Are

Current Interior Ministry Employees to Keep Their Perks as They Are

Sofia, November 4 (BTA) - Interior Ministry officers who are
already working in the system will keep their perks as they are,
 because the government's plans to reduce extra benefits for
Interior Ministry employees apply only to people who will be
hired in the future, the Ministry's Chief Secretary Georgi
Kostov said on Wednesday.

Kostov spoke to journalists after attending Prime Minister Boyko
 Borissov's meeting with Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova
and Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.

His remark comes a day after police officers staged mass
protests against government plans to trim some perquisites
available to Interior Ministry employees. These plans envisage
that Ministry officers will not be paid extra for their years of
 service. They will be entitled to a 10-wage maximum severance
package instead of the current maximum of 20 wages, and the
amount will not include the bonuses they get for work in
specific conditions. Their paid leave entitlement will drop to
20 days a year from the current 30 days, and the holiday
allowance will get reduced. The additional pay for length of
service will be scrapped and the food allowance will be reduced
to 80 leva from 120 leva.

Kostov explained that the perks which became available to
current Interior Ministry employees at the time of signing their
 employment agreements will remain unchanged. The cuts will only
 apply to new employees.

Asked to comment on the difference which will thus emerge
between old and new employees, Kostov said this is a reform
which has already been implemented in other segments of the
state administration, and with time the conditions will become
the same for everyone.

The Chief Secretary conveyed an appeal by the Prime Minister
urging Interior Ministry officers to discharge their duties
strictly and avoid tension. "If they take unlawful actions
violating the laws on road traffic and rallies, it will be
necessary to take administrative action," Kostov warned.