Bulgaria submits a revised draft bill to the National Assembly as it progresses implementation of the Gender Pay Transparency Directive

At a glance

• Following a period of public consultation, on 11 September 2026 the Bulgarian Council of Ministers submitted to the National Assembly revised draft legislation to implement the Gender Pay Transparency Directive (Directive).
• The bill will amend and supplement the existing Protection from Discrimination Act.
• As yet, there is no confirmed date for the legislation to come into force, save that the pay gap reporting obligations will take effect on 7 June 2027 (for employers with 150 or more employees) and 7 June 2031 (for employers with 100 – 149 employees).

A revised draft bill to implement the Directive has now been submitted to the National Assembly, taking into account comments made during the public consultation period. The key measures proposed under the bill are:

Recruitment

• Job titles in vacancy notices must be stated in gender-neutral terms.
• Employers must disclose the pay range (basic salary plus any fixed additional remuneration) to job applicants, plus the pay provisions of any applicable collective agreement. However, there is no specific obligation to include this information in job advertisements.
• Employers are prohibited from asking applicants about pay received from previous employers.

Right to request pay information

• Workers (or trade union representatives or the Coommission for Protection against Discriminatin (CPD) on workers' behalf) may request and receive written infromation on their individual pay and pay levels broken down by sex for comparable categories of workers. Employers must respond to this request within two months.
• If the information provided is inaccurate or incomplete, employees may request further clarification and employers must provide a reasoned reply within 14 days.
• Where providing pay information may result in the disclosure of the individual remuneration of another worker or employee, employers must still provide it but only upon request to the trade union organisation in the undertaking and / or to the CPD. The trade union and the CPD may advise workers and employees on their options for bringing a claim without disclosing the remuneration of individual workers or employees
• Employers must inform workers annually of the right to pay information and how to exercise it. This reminder must be given by 31 January each year.

Pay criteria

• Pay determination and progression criteria must be objective and gender-neutral, based on skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions.

Pay gap reporting

• Employee thresholds for pay gap reporting obligations include any workers assigned by a temporary work agency.
• Employers with 250 or more workers must report gender pay gap data to the CPD annually.
• Employers with 100 - 249 workers must report every three years.
• Reports must cover seven indicators, including the overall and median gender pay gap, pay gap in basic and variable components, and quartile distribution by sex.
• Where clarification is requested by employees, the trade union or the CPD, employers must respond within one month.
• Where any worker category shows an unjustified pay gap of 5% or more, the employer must provide justification to the CPD.

Joint pay assessments

• A mandatory joint pay assessment (with trade unions / worker representatives) is triggered where: (1) a gap of at least 5% exists in any worker category; (2) it is not objectively justified; and (3) it has not been remedied within six months.
• The assessment must cover an analysis of pay levels, reasons for differences, and remedial measures.
• Unjustified differences must be remedied within one year.

Confidentiality

• Pay-confidentiality clauses restricting workers from disclosing remuneration for the purpose of enforcing equal pay rights are prohibited.

Enforcement

• The burden of proof in pay discrimination cases is shifted to the employer.
• The CPD is designated as the monitoring body, with expanded functions including data collection, publication, technical assistance to smaller employers, and development of analytical tools.

Implementation date

• The legislation will enter into force on promulgation (the date is yet to be confirmed), except for the reporting and joint pay assessment obligations, which take effect on 7 June 2027 for employers with 150 or more workers and 7 June 2031 for those with 100 - 149 workers.