UPDATED RULES FOR BUSINESS TRIPS IN BULGARIA AND ABROAD
Highlights of the newly adopted amendments to the Ordinance for Domestic Business Trips and the Ordinance for Official Business Trips and Specializations Abroad
In the end of March 2023, the Bulgarian legislator adopted a few necessary amendments to the regulations regarding domestic business trips and business trips abroad.
Below you may find highlights on the most important changes:
(a) Updated minimums of the per diem allowances taking into account the cost-of-living increases throughout the past almost 20 years since the last legislative amendments:
- The standard minimum for domestic business trips is increased to BGN 40 per day
The rules for decrease of this amount remain in force and just the rule that no per diems are due in case the trip is to the employee’s hometown is abolished.
- The minimums for per diem allowances and the maximums for accommodation allowances in case of business trips abroad are also updated. All of them now are listed in EUR
(b) It is explicitly stipulated that in case of business trip abroad the employer may reimburse the actual cost for accommodation
(c) One of the new rules explicitly provides that the order for domestic business trips could be issued in electronical form only and the employer may specify that it does not need to be signed at the place of the trip
It is arguable whether this rule is special to the general and far stricter rules for keeping employment documents electronically. It is to be further confirmed by the practice of the authorities.
Please note that the regulations concerning business trips abroad as discussed above apply only to trips that do not fall within the definition of posting employees in the EU for the provision of services.
This material represents a high-level overview of the recent developments concerning the revised matters. This newsletter shall not be construed as legal or other professional advice for any specific case.
For more information and legal assistance regarding the above, please contact us at: office@drp-legal.com