site.btaUPDATED Employers, Unions Disagree on 2026 Minimum Wage Rise

At a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) on Monday, employers and trade unions failed to reach agreement on a new size of Bulgaria's national minimum wage for 2026.

The draft government decree proposes a minimum monthly wage of BGN 1,213 (EUR 620.20) as of January 1, 2026, which is BGN 136 (EUR 69.54) or 12.6% up from the present level of BGN 1,077, Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov said. He noted that during earlier discussions, the unions and employers had failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

"I do not know why yet again, no agreement was reached," Gutsanov said. He added that his Ministry is obliged to take the necessary steps to comply with the provisions of the law.

Gutsanov explained that the higher minimum wage will increase the incomes of around 600,000 people, raise the salaries of nearly 30,000 employees in state-funded social services, and boost the pay of all people working under subsidized employment programmes and measures, as well as professional foster families. The change will help reduce in-work poverty and increase purchasing power.

The business representatives at the NCTC meeting called for a review of the minimum wage fixing machinery set in the Labour Code and argued that it should not be pegged to the average gross wage. Some employer organizations declared that they opposed the proposed increase, while others said they would abstain.

The trade unions expressed support for the proposed minimum wage.

After the NCTC meeting, Gutsanov told a news briefing that, in his opinion and the opinion of his Ministry's team, it would be inadmissible to freeze the minimum wage and incomes in the present situation.

"I am aware that the increase proposed by the Ministry seems too little to the unions and too much to the employers, but a minimum wage rise is inevitable," the Minister commented.

He pointed out that, according to Eurostat, Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage in the EU (EUR 551), 28% less than Hungary's EUR 707 and 35% less than Latvia's EUR 740. Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage in the Union: EUR 2,638. 

The Labour Minister stressed that the minimum wage remains the lowest in Bulgaria despite the undoubtedly substantial pay rises introduced by the State over the last two years. "We believe that this is the way to go. People need to feel reassured, to see that the State is taking care of them and is concerned about each Bulgarian citizen," Gutsanov said, quoted by his Ministry in a press release.