The Constitutional Court has annulled the changes by which the seniority in part-time work was to be calculated proportionally to the hours actually worked. The decision is No. 17 and was issued on October 20, 2026. With it, those working on a four-hour contract retain the current procedure for recognizing seniority and the related labor rights.
The disputed texts were introduced through the transitional and final provisions of the State Budget Act for 2026. They provided for the addition of hours to the Labor Code as a unit for calculating seniority. In the case of part-time work, it was to be determined according to the ratio between the hours worked and the statutory full-time working time.
With a standard eight-hour working day, this meant that four hours a day would count as half a day of service. One year of work on a four-hour contract would be equal to six months of service, and two years of half-day work would be needed to accumulate one year. The new regime was to come into effect on 1 January 2027.
What is retained
After the decision, the rule remains that one day of service counts as work for at least half of the statutory daily working time. Thus, an employee who works four hours on a normal eight-hour working day continues to accumulate one full day of service for each day worked.
This also preserves the rights that depend on service length. The basic paid annual leave remains a minimum of 20 working days, rather than the 10 days envisaged under the new regime for those working four hours. The possibility of length of service being included in the determination of additional remuneration for acquired length of service and professional experience, as well as certain benefits under the Labor Code, is also preserved.
Why did the court overturn the change
The Constitutional Court does not accept that the parliament has no right at all to change the way in which length of service is calculated. According to the reasons, the problem lies in the way in which this was done — through the budget law, although the rules were supposed to be in effect mainly in 2027.
„The contested amendment has made a permanent, significant change to existing rights of citizens, which is not directly related to the objectives of the law for which it was adopted.“The court points out that the transitional provision postpones the entry into force of the new rules until the end of 2026. Therefore, they cannot have a direct effect on the revenues and expenses set out in the budget for that year. On this basis, the texts were declared unconstitutional.
The case was initiated at the request of members of parliament and the Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva. During the proceedings, the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions and the Confederation of Trade Unions “Podkrepa“ declared themselves against the change, while employer organizations defended its constitutionality. The decision on the texts in the Labor Code was signed with dissenting opinions by Atanas Semov, Yanaki Stoilov, Sasho Penov and Nevin Feti.
Sources: vesti.bg, dnes.dir.bg, dunavmost.com