Draft Act on the Measures during State of Emergency, declared by resolution of 13 March 2020 by the National Assembly

In view of the state of emergency, which Bulgaria is facing in order to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, Deloitte Legal Law Firm puts your awareness first. In this regard, we will publish information on a regular basis about current hot topics that according to us may be of direct concern to you

Today (17th March) the focus is on: Draft Act on the Measures during State of Emergency, declared by resolution of 13 March 2020 by the National Assembly. The proposal was tabled in the committees in the afternoon on 17 March 2020. The draft is expected to be introduced and voted in plenary on 18 March 2020. Changes to the proposed measures are possible, given the dynamic situation and discussions held in parliamentary committees.

Apart from the already effective anti-epidemic measures for limiting the mass events, trainings events and conferences, the suspended access and visits to shopping centres and commercial sites, kindergartens, schools, gyms, as well as planned ambulatory admission, women's and children's consultations in hospitals and etc., the following measures are regulated:

• For Bulgarian citizens planning trips abroad, compulsory health insurance is introduced;
• Until the end of the state of emergency, all procedural deadlines for pending court proceedings, arbitration, administrative (incl. tax related) and enforcement proceedings shall be suspended, except for criminal proceedings;
• All announced public sale, entry into force procedures announced by state or private bailiff are terminated. After the end of the state of emergency, these proceedings shall be resumed and reopened;
• The imposition of preservations on bank accounts of natural persons, preservations on salaries and pensions, as well as the inventories of the movable and real estate of natural persons are suspended;
• Notarial certifications are limited to only to urgent and non-delayable certifications, the Notary Chamber will be providing at least one notary on duty for each country region;
• Until the end of the state of emergency, the managing authorities of EU funds will have the right to unilaterally modify grant contracts - both to reduce and to increase the amount of agreed funds. Opportunities for providing funds under simplified rules and the possibility of shortening the time limits are foreseen. An opportunity for awarding grants directly to a candidate approved by a program monitoring committee after a reasoned proposal by the head of the relevant managing authority of a program with resolution in default is proposed; 
• All employers introduce a work from home form of work for their employees, depending on the specifics and capabilities of the respective work activity. If this is not possible, they are obliged to organize the work of their employees in compliance with enhanced anti-epidemic measures, e.g. disinfection, air filtration, restriction of access of employees and outsiders with manifestations of infectious diseases;
• Traveling and training sessions on business purposes are suspended;
• Amendments to the Labour Code are proposed, as natural consequence of the state of emergency in the country. The key ones are:
  • Assignment of work from home and teleworking in the event of a state of emergency. Without the consent of the employee, the employer may assign a temporary work from home. 
  • In case of a state of emergency, the employer may by virtue of order, suspend the work of the enterprise, part of it or certain employees until the termination of the state of emergency. In such a case, the employer is also entitled to provide the annual paid leave to an employee without his or her consent, including employees with less than 8 months of service. If the employee has used all the paid leave, the employer provides the use of unpaid leave.
  • Upon temporary suspension of work during a declared state of emergency, if the employer suspends the work of an enterprise or part of it by order, the employees concerned are entitled to their gross remuneration
  • In case of suspension of work of an enterprise or part of it, by virtue of order of state authority, the employees are entitled to compensation of 50 percent of their gross remuneration, but not less than 75% of the minimum state remuneration.
• Amendments to the Social Security Code are envisaged, related to the suspension and extension of statutory time limits and the filing of complaints, applications and documents.
• In the Bulgarian Identity Documents Act is foreseen that the validity of ID cards and driving licenses, expiring in the period from the entry into force of the Draft Act until October 31, 2020, is extended by 6 months.
• Strict sanctions are provided for distribution of false or misleading information about the spread of a contagious disease, such as COVID-19.

Deloitte Legal Law Firm remains at your disposal for further information and questions.Deloitte Legal Law emergency contacts: 

- Attorney-at-law Reneta Petkova - Partner, Banking and Finance, email: rpetkova@deloittece.com 

- Attorney-at-law Georgi Simeonov – Director, Tax practice, email: gsimeonov@deloittece.com 

- Attorney-at-law Zvezdelina Filova - Senior Manager, Labour and Commercial Disputes, email: zfilova@deloittece.com  

- Attorney-at-law Miglena Micheva - Manager, Labour Law, email: mmicheva@deloittece.com 

- Attorney-at-law Kaloyan Yordanov - Manager, Commercial and Corporate Law, email: kyordanov@deloittece.com  

- Attorney-at-law Adelina Mitkova - Manager, Banking and Finance, email: amitkova@deloittece.com  

- Attorney-at-law. Pavlin Stoyanoff - Manager, Energy and Resources, email: pstoyanoff@deloittece.com