Here you will find information on your benefit entitlements in the event of accidents at work and occupational diseases.

The following is described:

• benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases.

In what situation can I claim?

An accident at work is damage to health or death resulting from the implementation of work under a labour/employment relationship. This includes the following:

• Any sudden damage to health which may take place during, in connection with or as a result of work carried out and of any work done in the interests of the company;
• Damage to health or death during or on the way to and from work. This is any accident which may occur on the way to or back from your workplace to:
  • your home;
  • the place where you normally eat during the working day;
  • the place from where you receive your salary.

An occupational disease is a disease which may take place due to harmful factors in the working environment or the labour process. These diseases are explicitly listed in the list of occupational diseases. Diseases which are not included in this list are also recognised if it is confirmed that they are caused by normal working activities.

Occupational illness also includes its complications and later consequences.

What conditions do I need to meet?

In order to have entitlement to benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases, you must be insured against accident at work and occupational diseases risks. Social insurance for these risks is mandatory for the following.

• Workers and employees hired to work for one or more employers. The social insurance does not depend on the nature of the work, the payment method or the source of finance;
• State employees;
• Judges, prosecutors, investigators, court bailiffs, registry judges, court employees, members of the Supreme Judicial Council and Inspectors at the Supreme Judicial Council Inspectorate;
• Armed forces personnel in accordance with the Defence and Armed Forces Act of the Republic of Bulgaria;
• Members of cooperatives exercising labour activities who receive remuneration from the cooperative;
• Executors of contracts for the management and control of commercial companies, sole traders, unincorporated companies, official receivers and liquidators;
• Persons in elected positions;
• Religious clerics of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and other registered religious faiths;
• Candidates for junior judges, junior prosecutors and junior investigators.
• Seafarers.

Invalidity pensions are granted for accidents at work and occupational diseases if you have lost 50% or more of your capacity to work due to an accident at work or occupational diseases. Conditions for retirement pensions are more favourable than for invalidity pensions due to sickness. This pension does not depend on your period of social insurance cover.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

The procedures for confirming an accident at work or occupational diseases can be found on the website of the National Social Security Institute. If you are injured as a result of an accident at work or occupational diseases, you are entitled to medical assistance, medicines, medical equipment and technical aids from the health care system and the social benefits system.

In the event of an accident at work or occupational disease, insured persons or their successors are entitled to the following cash benefits and pensions from the state social insurance fund:

• cash benefits for temporary incapacity to work: sick pay (парично обезщетение за временна неработоспособност);
• cash benefits for placement in a suitable job (обезщетение за трудоустрояване);
• a personal or inheritable invalidity pension (лична или наследствена пенсия за инвалидност);
• cash benefits for preventive care and rehabilitation (обезщетения за профилактика и рехабилитация);
• a one-off benefit in the case of death (еднократна помощ при смърт).

The amounts are higher than those for sickness and include:

• Cash benefits for temporary incapacity to work (sick pay) amounting to 90% of the average daily salary, for the last 18 months of paid insurance contributions;
• Cash benefits for placement in a suitable job. The daily amount of benefits is equal to the difference between the daily salary for the last 18 months, but no more than the maximum monthly insurable income. The benefits may not exceed your salary after placement in a suitable job;
• A personal or inherited invalidity pension due to an accident at work or occupational disease. The formula for calculating your pension for an accident at work and occupational disease can be found here.

The pension cannot be lower than a percentage of the minimum old age pension and social insurance cover period pension, which for 2023 is BGN 467.

• Cash benefits for preventive care and rehabilitation: expenditure on a total of four basic daily diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (including examinations and tests). Funds are provided for overnight accommodation at a price approved by the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute without additional payment. Cash benefits for rehabilitation include partial payment for food: BGN 7.00 per day. For the day of admission and the day of discharge, the National Social Security Institute pays a total of BGN 7.00 in partial cash benefits for food. You are entitled to cash benefits for preventive treatment and rehabilitation once per calendar year for a 10-day stay in hospital.

Jargon busters

• Unincorporated companies: companies under the Obligations and Contracts Act that are not legal entities, but to which tax legislation ascribes certain rights and obligations. An example of such a company is a solicitor's practice.

Forms you may need to fill in

• Forms for confirmation of accidents at work or occupational diseases by a medical consultation committee.

Know your rights

The laws and web pages of the institutions which determine your rights can be found by following the links below. These are not European Commission pages and do not represent the opinion of the Commission:

• Social Insurance Code;
• National Social Security Institute;
• Procedure for the recognition of accidents at work;
• Procedure for the recognition of occupational diseases.

European Commission publications:

• Death grants: Your rights abroad as a citizen of the EU.

Who do you need to contact?

National Social Security Institute

• Contact Centre
• Central Office of the National Social Security Institute
• Bul. Alexander Stamboliiski No 62-64
• 1303 Sofia
• Telephone: +359 29261010
• noi@nssi.bg 
• Regional offices of the National Social Security Institute