The Council of Ministers' decree on determining the minimum wage (MW) for 2026 continues to be delayed, although the legal deadline for its adoption expired on September 1. The issue, which directly affects the incomes of nearly 600,000 Bulgarians, was not included in the agenda of today's cabinet meeting, October 21.
The proposal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) is to increase the minimum wage to 1,213 leva from January 1, 2026. This represents an increase of 12.6% compared to the current amount of 1077 leva.
The project was discussed in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) on October 6. However, no agreement was reached between the social partners at that time.
Employers' organizations, including the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (AIKB), insisted on freezing the minimum wage. According to them, the mechanism for determining the minimum wage is distorted and the administrative increase seriously exceeds the capabilities of companies.
The unions from the "Podkrepa" Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions and the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions supported the MLSP's proposal for an increase to 1213 leva.
The Minister of Labor and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov commented at the time that freezing incomes was unacceptable. "Not raising the minimum wage at this time and freezing incomes would be unacceptable", he said, quoted by BTA.
According to the provisions of the Labor Code, the minimum wage for the next year must be determined by September 1 of the current year. It is calculated as 50% of the average gross wage for a period of 12 months.
This year, the draft decree was published for public discussion only on August 26, which made it impossible to meet the legal deadline. It is currently unclear when the government will make a final decision.