In recent years we have been engaged as independent legal advisers on a host of projects relating to labour and employment law, and personnel restructuring. We provide advice on various practical and legal issues arising out of the employment relations with employees, directors and contractors, including:
- Transfer of personnel under art. 123 of the Labour Code by outsourcing, including in compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act;
- Termination of employment contracts with employee consent in consideration of compensation (art. 331 of the LC) with various individual schemes and packages, in compliance with the provisions of the Additional Compulsory Pension Insurance and the tax and social security laws;
- Termination of employment contracts after downsizing;
- Drafting of documents and criteria and implementation of different procedures for selection of personnel – only for internal use and of procedural importance according to art. 329 of the LC;
- Mass lay-offs;
- Communication with labour unions, the General Labour Inspectorate and the Employment Agency;
- Negotiations of collective labour agreements;
- Seminars for the managerial personnel of companies;
- Lay-offs due to closure of the enterprise;
- Reviews and comments on specific labour law matters on a given project;
- Assistance with the drafting of notifications and other documents for filing with public authorities and other institutions, acquisition of permits;
- Review and drafting of reports on some of the aforementioned documents;
- Review, drafting and negotiating of labour law related agreements;
- Review of different personnel management systems with emphasis on salary systems;
- Review of personnel restructuring;
- Restructuring of the management of subsidiary companies;
- Creation of conditions enabling professional managers to have a stake in the enterprise;
- Creation of conditions for combination of restructuring with systems for assistance and development of already existing micro-companies;
- Creation of more favourable conditions for new company initiatives and new investments.
We have detailed knowledge of the specialised legislation, which is of crucial importance for the process of restructuring and its compliance with regulatory requirements such as for example:
- The Health and Safety at Work Act, the Social Insurance Code, the Ordinance on the Job Placement of Disabled Employees, the Ordinance on Working Time, Rest and Leave, the Ordinance on Social Security of Self-employed Persons and Bulgarian Nationals Working Abroad, and etc.
- The provisions relating to health and pension insurance, additional social, pension and health insurance, unemployment and professional qualification, the Ordinance on Pensions and Insurable Length of Service, the Ordinance for Granting and Payment of Unemployment Benefits, and etc.
- Personnel and Salary Management;
- Health and Pension Insurance of employees, health and pension insurance plans and etc.
Our lawyers have worked on various cases and have appeared before different administrative authorities and courts on appellate level as well. In recent years we have won many cases, including claims for wrongful dismissal, termination of employment contracts, unpaid salaries, social security payments and compensations, and etc.
Despite our extensive experience in court resolution of labour disputes, we must admit that they are not always the best course of action as they may be expensive and time-consuming. For this reason we work in close cooperation with our clients to find the most efficient dispute resolution for each specific situation. Regardless what our clients choose – be it private negotiations, mediation, arbitration or court proceedings – we have established procedures and strategies for the most efficient and effective resolution of each case. Several of our lawyers are licensed mediators.
