By Loi Tan
BLOG OVERVIEW: Bulgaria has published a draft law transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970), implemented through amendments to the Protection Against Discrimination Act (PADA) and Labour Code. The proposal introduces proactive transparency, reporting, monitoring, and enforcement mechanisms beyond Bulgaria's existing equal-pay framework. Employers would have one year to implement corrective measures for confirmed unjustified pay differences.
On May 19, 2026, Bulgaria published a draft transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive (the Directive) that would be implemented through proposed amendments to the country’s Protection Against Discrimination Act (PADA) and Labour Code. The amendments introduce proactive transparency, reporting, monitoring, and enforcement mechanisms required by the Directive that were not previously part of the country’s equal-pay framework.
Provisions on pay transparency, a prohibition on salary history inquiries during recruitment, and worker rights to pay information and pay disclosure would apply to all employers. Under the PADA, workers would be entitled to request information on their individual pay levels and the average pay levels by gender for peers performing the same work or work of equal value. Through a Labour Code amendment, workers would also have the right to request information on the average pay levels of workers at the same job level.
Moreover, the draft law specifies the criteria relevant to pay determination and pay increases which shall reflect the nature and demands of the specific role, including the complexity, intensity, and responsibility of the work, the working conditions, and the accepted standards for the quantity, quality, and duration of performance. These gender-neutral criteria establish the primary basis for employers to assess equal pay for equal or equivalent work. Employers, however, can draw on three supplemental assessment methods as needed: (i) referencing pay set by law or regulation or a collective labor agreement at the industry or sectoral level, (ii) using a historical comparator, that is, the pay level of a worker in a comparable position within the previous three years, or (iii) considering statistical or hypothetical comparators, where no actual comparator can be identified.
Gender pay gap reporting, where pay includes the basic wage and complementary or variable remuneration, would apply to employers with 150 or more workers starting in 2027 and expand to include employers with 100-149 workers in 2031. Unjustified gender pay gaps of at least 5% that remain unexplained or unremedied would trigger joint pay assessments involving worker or trade union representatives and the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination, Bulgaria's designated equality body. The proposed law also specifies times within which employers must respond to worker requests for pay information and requests from workers or their representatives for additional information related to pay gap reports. It also sets one year as the time within which employers must implement corrective measures for unjustified pay differences identified in a joint pay assessment. Public consultation will remain open until June 18, 2026.
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