Employer of Record (EOR) in Bulgaria

Hire in Bulgaria in days, with no entity and no exposure to getting Labour Code compliance wrong. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in Bulgaria

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Bulgarian staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in Bulgaria without forming your own company. In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Bulgarian legal entity and local expertise: a compliant employment contract under the Bulgarian Labour Code, monthly payroll with income tax and social/health-insurance withholding, employer contributions and the combined statutory remittance to the National Revenue Agency (NRA), with benefits administered by the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), statutory benefits and leave, and compliant onboarding and lawful exits with the correct statutory notice, since Bulgaria is not at-will. You get a working team in days. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in Bulgaria, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Bulgarian employment contract under the Labour Code, with all statutory terms correct from day one.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, income tax and social/health-insurance withholding, employer contributions, and the combined statutory remittance to the National Revenue Agency (NRA).

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, annual leave, notice and severance under the Labour Code, and lawful onboarding and exits. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant Bulgarian hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Bulgarian standards by the partner, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Bulgarian contract is issued under the Labour Code, with all statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

Income tax, social security, and health insurance calculated and withheld, payslips issued, statutory filings made to the National Revenue Agency (NRA). You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in Bulgaria costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone, and the EOR partner fee. In Bulgaria the statutory employer cost combines pension, health, and accident-at-work contributions into one remittance to the NRA, rather than two separate systems. We make both transparent before you commit, so there are no surprises.

Employer social security

18.92-19.62% of gross salary (14.12-14.82% pension and social insurance plus 4.8% health insurance, plus an employer-only accident-at-work fund of 0.4-1.1% depending on activity), capped once monthly pay passes the EUR 2,111.64 ceiling (rising to EUR 2,300 from 1 August 2026, adopted by Parliament, awaiting Gazette promulgation). Predictable and fully costed before you commit.

Minimum wage (2026)

EUR 620.20 per month for 2026 (EUR 3.74/hour), the floor every EOR quote is benchmarked against, with no regional variation to price in.

Income tax (employee)

Flat 10% on personal income, unchanged since 2008, with no brackets and no general tax-free allowance. Withheld monthly at source from the employee’s pay. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in Bulgaria, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

Bulgaria’s employer cost combines pension, health, and accident-at-work contributions into a single NRA remittance, and the social-security ceiling itself is mid-revision in parliament, which makes it easy to under- or over-quote a monthly fee up front. We benchmark across our partner network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate on your behalf at renewal. Most companies do not know how much room there is to negotiate. We do.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local knowledge of the Bulgarian Labour Code, the NRA/NSSI contribution structure, and Bulgarian termination rules that keeps you compliant.

  • EOR specialists
  • Labour Code & NRA
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Bulgarian OOD. We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into Bulgaria

Two things slow foreign employers down in Bulgaria: the time to incorporate, and the risk of getting the Labour Code’s notice, severance, and dismissal rules wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under one national Labour Code. Bulgarian employment law requires mandatory social-security and health-insurance contributions remitted to the NRA, and dismissal that is only lawful on a closed list of statutory grounds, with statutory notice, rather than at-will termination. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

The Registry Agency itself decides on a clean filing within one to three business days, but end to end, incorporating in Bulgaria commonly takes one to two weeks once notarised documents and the registered office are in place, longer for a remote, power-of-attorney filing, and you cannot legally employ anyone until the Commercial Register entry completes. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant Bulgarian contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the market first, then incorporate later only if the headcount justifies it. This is the real value of EOR in Bulgaria: speed into a market mid-currency-changeover, with the compliance carried by an expert.

Everything your Bulgarian EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Bulgarian contract

A compliant Bulgarian employment contract under the Labour Code, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll, social security & health insurance

Monthly payroll run, with income tax, social security, and health-insurance contributions calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: paid annual leave, public holidays, maternity and paternity leave (NSSI-funded), and statutory notice on exit, which Bulgaria requires since it is not at-will. Employee social security and health insurance run 13.78% combined (10.58% pension and social insurance plus 3.2% health insurance), deducted from salary, not billed to you.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in Bulgaria.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Bulgarian EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant Bulgarian contract from day one. Compare that to the one to two weeks a straightforward incorporation can take, during which you cannot legally employ anyone.

Predictable, at 18.92-19.62% of gross salary: pension and social insurance, health insurance, and an employer-only accident-at-work fund, all remitted together to the NRA and capped once pay passes the EUR 2,111.64 ceiling. Add the transparent EOR partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Bulgarian legal employer meeting all Labour Code, NRA, and NSSI obligations. The risk is using an under-resourced partner, which is exactly why we place you with vetted partners and stay on your side.

The compliant contract, monthly payroll (income tax, social security, and health-insurance withholding), employer contributions, statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own Bulgarian OOD, and can support the incorporation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in Bulgaria?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in Bulgaria.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (NRA, NSSI, PwC). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.