Overtime under the Labour Code

Under Article 143 of the Bulgarian Labour Code, overtime is work performed outside established working hours on the employer’s instructions or with the knowledge and without the objection of the employer or the employee’s supervisor. The first situation requires an express written or oral instruction from the employer to the particular employee. In the second, the employee takes the initiative to carry on working outside normal hours and the employer knows of this and does not object. In either case, the work must directly benefit the employer and fall within the duties agreed under the employment contract: it is performance under that contract for longer than the employee is obliged to work. For the same reason overtime must be entered in the special register under Article 149. An employer cannot benefit from failing to keep the register. If a dispute reaches court, all available forms of evidence may therefore be used to establish overtime worked but not recorded. For witness testimony to provide reliable evidence, it must be specific, precise and consistent on the essential facts, above all the period when the overtime was worked and its duration in days and hours (see, among others, Order No. 305 of 21 March 2017 in civil case No. 4089/2016, Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Cassation).

To establish beyond doubt that overtime was worked, the employee should seek the assistance of a lawyer with training and experience in employment law. This article is not a legal opinion or advice about a particular situation or person. For legal assistance in a similar case, consult a civil lawyer specialising in employment law.