Unpaid leave in Bulgaria 2026: the 30 days that count
Unpaid leave has no day cap in Bulgaria, but only 30 working days a year count as service. Who pays health contributions, and when must the employer agree.
Your boss has said “yes” to a month without pay. The question that almost nobody asks before signing the request is a different one: what else do you lose besides that month’s salary.
The answer is in one number, 30. It does not limit the days you can take. It limits the days that will later be recognised for you.
❓How many days of unpaid leave can I take in a year?
The law does not limit the days, it limits the consequences
The Labour Code (КТ) does not say “up to so many days”. It says who decides. Unpaid leave is requested by you and allowed by the employer.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 160(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„Работодателят по искане на работника или служителя може да му разреши неплатен отпуск независимо от това, дали е ползувал или не платения си годишен отпуск и независимо от продължителността на трудовия му стаж.“
“May allow” means exactly that. The employer has no obligation to let you go and no obligation to explain why they refuse. And there is no ceiling that would forbid them from letting you go for half a year.
That is why the question “what is the maximum number of days” has no answer in days. It has an answer in consequences, and it is the same for everyone.
30 working days
The annual threshold up to which unpaid leave is recognised as employment service and as insurance record
Source: КТ, Art. 160(3) and КСО, Art. 9(2), item 3
The 30 working days are two rules in two laws
Here almost every page on the internet squeezes two things into one. The 30 days are not one rule. They are two separate rules, which sit in two different laws and do different jobs.
The first is about employment service (трудов стаж). It is counted under the Labour Code, and things such as the extra pay for length of service depend on it.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 160(3)
Official Bulgarian text
„Неплатеният отпуск до 30 работни дни в една календарна година се признава за трудов стаж, а над 30 работни дни - само ако това е предвидено в този кодекс, в друг закон или в акт на Министерския съвет.“
The second is about insurance record (осигурителен стаж). It is counted under the Social Insurance Code and is the basis on which your pension rests.
Social Insurance Code (КСО)
Art. 9(2), item 3
It is listed among the periods for which insurance record is counted without insurance contributions being made.
Official Bulgarian text
„на неплатения отпуск до 30 работни дни през една календарна година“
| Employment service | Insurance record | |
|---|---|---|
| Which law governs it | Labour Code, Art. 160(3) | Social Insurance Code, Art. 9(2), item 3 |
| Threshold for one calendar year | 30 working days | 30 working days |
| Are contributions paid for the period | No employment pay is owed | It is counted without insurance contributions being made |
| What happens above the threshold | Not recognised, unless provided for in the code, in another law or in an act of the Council of Ministers | Not counted |
The same number, two different laws. Check both when you are working out a long unpaid leave.
The practical difference is simple. If you take 45 working days of unpaid leave, the first 30 count in both places. The remaining 15 do not count towards insurance record, and towards employment service they are recognised only if the Labour Code, another law or an act of the Council of Ministers provides for it.
There is a third loss: your paid leave for the same year
Days above 30 are not recognised as employment service. And the amount of paid annual leave for the second and every following calendar year is determined in proportion to exactly that employment service at the enterprise.
The two rules add up: a long unpaid leave also shrinks your paid annual leave for the same year. This is the consequence that almost nobody works out before submitting the request.
Ordinance on Working Time, Breaks and Leave (Наредба за работното време, почивките и отпуските)
Art. 22(1)
The last sentence of the paragraph sets the amount of paid annual leave for the second and following calendar years.
Official Bulgarian text
„За ползуване на платения годишен отпуск за втората и следващите календарни години не се изисква нов 4-месечен трудов стаж, като в тези случаи размерът на отпуска за съответната календарна година се определя пропорционално на трудовия стаж на работника или служителя в това предприятие.“
The 60 and 90 days applied only in 2020 and 2021
If you have come across the numbers 60 or 90 on this subject, they are real. But each was true for exactly one year and no longer applies.
In 2020 the threshold was raised to 60 working days by a transitional provision to the Act Amending and Supplementing the Health Act.
Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act Amending and Supplementing the Health Act (State Gazette (ДВ) No. 44 of 2020)
§ 16(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„Неплатеният отпуск по чл. 160, ал. 1 от Кодекса на труда до 60 работни дни, ползван през 2020 г., се зачита за трудов стаж.“
In 2021 the threshold was 90 working days, but under a provision of a different law.
Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act on the Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency (State Gazette (ДВ) No. 103 of 2020)
§ 4а(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„Неплатеният отпуск по чл. 160, ал. 1 от Кодекса на труда до 90 работни дни, ползван през 2021 г., се признава за трудов стаж.“
Both provisions say in their own text which year they refer to. The one for 60 days speaks of leave “taken in 2020” (ползван през 2020 г.), and the one for 90 days of leave “taken in 2021” (ползван през 2021 г.). Outside those two years the threshold is 30.
The number 90 is still found on the internet in 2026
On the internet today there are still news items from 2021 with headlines saying that “up to 90 days” count as employment service and insurance record. Some of them show no publication date.
What was written was true when it was published. Read in 2026, it misleads you with 60 working days. Check the date of every article on this subject before relying on the number in it.
Ask Pravko and get an answer with citations from the law.
Who pays your health contribution
This is the part that costs cash, and it surprises the most people. While you are on unpaid leave you remain on an employment contract, but the employer does not accrue any income for you. The health contribution, however, does not disappear.
The Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО) regulates exactly this case and says three things at once: on what sum the contribution is calculated, who pays it and by when.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 40(1), item 1, letter “б”
Official Bulgarian text
„за лицата в неплатен отпуск, които не подлежат на осигуряване на друго основание, вноската се определя върху половината от минималния месечен размер на осигурителния доход за самоосигуряващите се лица, определен със Закона за бюджета на държавното обществено осигуряване; вноската е изцяло за сметка на осигуреното лице - когато неплатеният отпуск е по негово желание, и за сметка на работодателя или ведомството - когато неплатеният отпуск е за отглеждане на дете по реда на чл. 167а от Кодекса на труда или поради производствена необходимост и престой; вноската се внася чрез съответното предприятие, организация или ведомство до 25-о число на месеца, следващ този, за който се отнася“
Split this into three answers.
On what sum. On half of the minimum monthly insurable income for self-insured persons. This income is set each year by the State Social Insurance Budget Act (ЗБДОО), and in 2026 it changes in the middle of the year.
State Social Insurance Budget Act for 2026 (ЗБДОО)
Art. 9
Sets the minimum monthly insurable income for self-insured persons in two separate periods of 2026.
Official Bulgarian text
„Чл. 9. Определят се следните размери на месечния осигурителен доход за 2026 г.: 1. от 1 януари до 31 юли: а) минимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход по основни икономически дейности и квалификационни групи професии – съгласно приложение № 1; б) минимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход за самоосигуряващите се лица – 550,66 евро; в) максимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход – 2 111,64 евро; 2. от 1 август до 31 декември: а) минимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход по основни икономически дейности и квалификационни групи професии – съгласно приложение № 1А; б) минимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход за самоосигуряващите се лица – 620,20 евро; в) максимален месечен размер на осигурителния доход – 2 300 евро.“
The base for the health contribution during unpaid leave in 2026
1 January to 31 July: half of €550.66
€275.33
1 August to 31 December: half of €620.20
€310.10
Total
The contribution is calculated on this base
This is the base, not the contribution itself. The percentage of the health insurance contribution is set each year by the National Health Insurance Fund (НЗОК) Budget Act, not in the Health Insurance Act.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 29(3)
That is why the percentage of the contribution is not looked for in the Health Insurance Act, but in the annual НЗОК budget act.
Official Bulgarian text
„Със Закона за бюджета на НЗОК задължително се определят и размерът на задължителната здравноосигурителна вноска, приходите и разходите по бюджетна класификация, както и диференцираните разходи по здравноосигурителните плащания за:“
For 2026 this percentage is 8. With it, the base above turns into a concrete sum.
National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act for 2026
Art. 2
Official Bulgarian text
„Размерът на задължителната здравноосигурителна вноска за 2026 г. е 8 на сто.“
What a month of unpaid leave at your own request costs you in 2026
1 January to 31 July: 8% of €275.33
€22.03
1 August to 31 December: 8% of €310.10
€24.81
Total
This is the health contribution for a full month
Calculated on the base under Art. 40(1), item 1, letter “б” ЗЗО and the rate under Art. 2 of the НЗОК Budget Act for 2026. It applies to a full month of unpaid leave and only when you are not insured on another basis.
Who pays. Here the law makes a distinction according to the reason for the leave, and the distinction is entirely in your favour when the leave is not at your own wish.
Who pays the health contribution, according to the reason for the leave
The split comes from Art. 40(1), item 1, letter “б” ЗЗО
Unpaid leave at your own request
The contribution is entirely at your expense
Leave to raise a child under Art. 167а КТ
The contribution is at the expense of the employer or the department
Leave due to production necessity and downtime (производствена необходимост и престой)
The contribution is at the expense of the employer or the department
By when. The contribution is paid through the enterprise by the 25th of the month following the one it relates to. So even when you are the one paying, the money goes through the employer, and you do not go to the National Revenue Agency (НАП) yourself.
The rule applies only if you are not insured elsewhere
The text refers to “persons on unpaid leave who are not subject to insurance on another basis”. If during this time you work under a second employment contract, receive a pension or are a self-insured person, you are already insured and this arrangement does not apply to you.
If you are not sure what your status is at the moment, start from checking health insurance and from the health insurance status check.
The two cases in which the employer must let you go
As a rule the employer decides. There are, however, two cases in which the Labour Code changes the verb from “may” to “must”. Almost no article on the subject mentions them.
The first is work for an international institution. Here the leave is up to a full year and is granted once.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 160(2)
Official Bulgarian text
„Работодателят е длъжен да разреши еднократно ползването на неплатен отпуск до една година на работник или служител, който е в правоотношение с институция на Европейския съюз, извън случаите по чл. 120а, с Организацията на обединените нации, с Организацията за сигурност и сътрудничество в Европа, с Организацията на Северноатлантическия договор или с други международни правителствени организации.“
The second is when a state of emergency or an extraordinary epidemic situation has been declared. Then six categories of workers have the right to ask for paid or unpaid leave and the employer must allow it.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 173а(2)
Official Bulgarian text
„Работодателят е длъжен да разрешава ползването на платен годишен отпуск или на неплатен отпуск при обявено извънредно положение или обявена извънредна епидемична обстановка по искане на: 1. бременна работничка или служителка, както и на работничка или служителка в напреднал етап на лечение ин-витро; 2. майка или осиновителка на дете до 12-годишна възраст или на дете с увреждане независимо от възрастта му; 3. работник или служител, който е самотен баща или осиновител на дете до 12-годишна възраст или на дете с увреждане независимо от възрастта му; 4. работник или служител, който не е навършил 18-годишна възраст; 5. работник или служител с трайно намалена работоспособност 50 и над 50 на сто; 6. работник или служител с право на закрила при уволнение по чл. 333, ал. 1, т. 2 и 3.“
This provision was adopted in 2020, but unlike § 16 and § 4а it is not limited to one year and stands in the code today. The time under it also counts.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 173а(3)
Official Bulgarian text
„Времето, през което се ползва отпуск по ал. 1 и 2, се признава за трудов стаж.“
Three kinds of unpaid leave with their own rule for service
The threshold of 30 working days applies to ordinary unpaid leave under Art. 160(1). There are leaves that are also unpaid but count towards service under their own rule. Only for the first of them does that rule cover both kinds of service. For the other two it covers only employment service, and for insurance record the threshold of 30 working days continues to apply.
Leave to raise a child up to the age of 8. Each of the two parents has the right to six months.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 167а(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„След използването на отпуските по чл. 164, ал. 1 и чл. 164б, ал. 1, 2, 3 и 5 всеки от родителите (осиновителите), ако работят по трудово правоотношение и детето не е настанено в заведение на пълна държавна издръжка, при поискване има право да ползва неплатен отпуск в размер 6 месеца за отглеждане на дете до навършване на 8-годишна възраст.“
For employment service this leave has its own rule in Art. 167а itself.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 167а(8)
Official Bulgarian text
„Времето, през което се ползва отпускът по ал. 1, се признава за трудов стаж.“
For insurance record this leave has a separate item in the Social Insurance Code, with no limit in days.
Social Insurance Code (КСО)
Art. 9(2), item 1
A separate basis from item 3 and without the threshold of 30 working days.
Official Bulgarian text
„на платен и неплатен отпуск за отглеждане на дете“
Study and creative leave (служебен и творчески отпуск). It is regulated in a collective labour agreement or in an agreement between you and the employer.
Labour Code (КТ)
Art. 161(2)
Official Bulgarian text
„Времето на неплатен служебен или творчески отпуск по ал. 1 се зачита за трудов стаж.“
Leave under Art. 173а. You have already seen it above. Paragraph 3 recognises it as employment service without any reference to the threshold of 30 days.
For the last two, the rule applies only to employment service
Art. 161(2) and Art. 173а(3) speak of employment service and nothing else. The Social Insurance Code has no separate item for these two leaves, so for insurance record they stay under the general threshold of 30 working days under Art. 9(2), item 3.
Only leave to raise a child under Art. 167а has a double basis: Art. 167а(8) for employment service and Art. 9(2), item 1 КСО for insurance record.
The employer cannot send you on unpaid leave
This is the flip side of Art. 160(1). Since the leave is allowed “at the request of the worker or employee”, it cannot start from an order of the employer.
The request must be yours, not one that was asked of you
If, when work slows down, you are told to write a request for unpaid leave, that is not the same as the employer having the right to impose it on you. The difference matters, because for downtime that is not your fault the law provides a different regime, not unpaid leave at your own wish.
Note the health contribution too: with leave “at your own wish” it is at your expense, while with production necessity and downtime it is at the employer’s expense. How your request is titled determines who pays.
How to ask for unpaid leave
The steps in brief
Check how many days you have already taken this year
The threshold of 30 working days is for the whole calendar year, not for each leave separately.
Write a request in free text
The Labour Code does not require a form. State the exact period and the reason, because the reason determines who pays the health contribution.
Wait for written permission
The leave is allowed by the employer. A submitted request without permission is not an allowed leave, and not turning up for work may be treated as a violation.
Settle the health contribution before you leave
If the leave is at your own wish and you are not insured elsewhere, the contribution is at your expense and is paid through the enterprise by the 25th of the following month.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a maximum number of days of unpaid leave by law?
No. The Labour Code sets no upper limit on the days. It sets a limit on recognising them: 30 working days in one calendar year.
Do I lose pension service if I take three months of unpaid leave?
For the part above 30 working days, yes. Insurance record is counted without contributions only for unpaid leave of up to 30 working days in a calendar year.
Do I have to pay health contributions while I am on unpaid leave?
If you are not insured on another basis and the leave is at your own wish, yes, at your expense. If the leave is to raise a child under Art. 167а or due to production necessity and downtime, the contribution is at the employer’s expense.
Can the employer refuse me unpaid leave?
Under the general rule yes, because Art. 160(1) says “may allow”. The exceptions are Art. 160(2) and Art. 173а(2).
And the numbers 60 and 90 days that I saw on the internet?
They come from transitional provisions that applied for 2020 and for 2021 respectively. For 2026 the threshold is 30 working days.
Does unpaid leave shrink my paid annual leave?
It can. The amount of paid annual leave for the second and every following calendar year is determined in proportion to employment service at the enterprise, and days of unpaid leave above 30 are not recognised as employment service. The more days above the threshold you take, the smaller your paid leave for the same year becomes.
Does unpaid leave cancel my paid annual leave?
No. These are different leaves. Your right to paid annual leave is regulated separately, and Art. 160(1) expressly says that unpaid leave is allowed regardless of whether you have taken your paid leave.
Related topics
⚠️ Important
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