Parliament's labor and social policy committee is reviewing changes to the labor code on second reading that would set up a new way to work out the minimum wage. Under the bill, the wage would be calculated using four criteria, but the exact formula and the figures behind it won't be written into the law itself — they'll be set out separately in a government decree.
At the start of the meeting, deputy labor minister Nadya Klisurska walked MPs through the draft decree and explained what statistics would go into the calculations.
Iliana Zhekova of GERB-SDS said the document handed to MPs should be written into the labor code itself, not set separately. Anna Bodakova of Democratic Bulgaria said MPs are being fed information bit by bit. "It's a problem that MPs get information a spoonful at a time," she said.
Asen Vasilev of We Continue the Change insisted the wording from the decree should go straight into the law. "What's written on this page should be written in the bill — not vague talk," he said, and proposed MPs vote the text in as part of the labor code itself. Zdravko Markov of Progressive Bulgaria added that while the formula isn't in the bill, labor ministry officials had explained to MPs exactly what it is.
Vasilev also questioned the draft decree on another point: why the small basket of goods used to track cost of living is measured by its average yearly price change, while wages are only checked once a year. He said that would leave the minimum wage lower than it should be, letting employers claim they'd struck a better deal for themselves.
"I'm sure there won't be a difference in the figure," deputy minister Klisurska replied. She explained the first criterion — buying power and cost of living. Unions and employers had agreed to track the average yearly change in prices for the small basket of goods, using the actual figures published by the National Statistical Institute. But Vasilev pointed out the institute's latest inflation figures only go up to August. That means the average yearly change would have to be worked out from August 2025 to August 2026, not over the calendar year 2025 as proposed.
He also asked why the 2027 wage should depend on figures from ten years earlier, 2016 or 2017. Georgi Georgiev of Vazrazhdane raised the same concern about a different figure — why a ten-year period is used to calculate labor productivity instead of a shorter one, say two or three years.
Klisurska said the ten-year period was chosen because it covers both economic booms and downturns, giving a fuller picture of the economy.
Levent Apti of the MRF asked how the wage would actually be set, given that the formula only produces an upper and lower limit. Klisurska said unions and employers would negotiate the exact figure each year.
During the debate, Krasimir Papazov of Progressive Bulgaria said the opposition was getting too caught up in details. "Deputy minister Klisurska already answered you, but you keep looking for problems that aren't there," he said.