Maternity leave in Bulgaria – отпуск за бременност и раждане
To be entitled to maternity leave allowance it is necessary to have worked at least 18 months prior to taking the maternity leave.
The allowance is 90% of the average gross salary of the 12 months before taking maternity leave. The period for maternity leave in Bulgaria is 410 days of which 45 days can be taken before giving birth. With the mother’s consent, when the child reaches six months, the leave can be transferred to the father, or grandparents for the rest of the period. During the first 135 days you have to take 3 illness notes from a doctor or hospital.
Fathers are entitled to 15 days paid paternity leave following the birth of the baby.
After the first 410 days there is an allowance of 240 leva/month until the baby becomes 2 years old. When the mother starts working after 410 days, she still has right on 120 leva/month until the baby becomes 2 years old.
After 2 years the mother has right on 1 year more parental leave without allowance.
During the period of maternity leave the employer is obliged to continue to pay health insurance until the mother returns to work.
The allowance is paid by the National Health Insurance Fund (Национална здравноосигурителна каса)
Relevant laws:
– Law on allowance for families with children – Закон за семейни помощи за деца(Bulgarian)
Hi there. I appreciate you posting this information because it’s hard to find elsewhere (especially in English!) but I’m wondering if you haven’t got the 18 and 12 month figures the wrong way round? As I understand the rules, to be eligible for the maternity leave allowance, the woman must have been working – ie, on ‘official’ salary – for at least 12 (not 18) months prior to commencement of leave and the allowance is calculated as 90% of the total nett salary earned over the 18 (not 12) months prior to leave starting. The effect of the 18 month rule being that a woman who worked, say, for only the minimum 12-mth qualifying period would actually receive 66.6% of her pre-leave salary in maternity benefit. I’d welcome your comment.