Let’s start by looking at who is entitled to maternity and childbirth benefits, as well as leave to care for a child up to the age of 2 – this includes all persons who have paid contributions to the ‘General Illness and Maternity’ Fund (GMD for short) of the State Social Security (SSS) for at least 12 months – this includes those working under an employment contract, self-employed persons who have opted to be insured under the GMD, civil servants appointed under the Civil Servants Act, seafarers, military personnel and others.
The following three conditions must be met simultaneously:
- at the start of their holiday, individuals must be covered by compulsory health insurance;
- have at least 12 months’ social security contribution history as persons insured under the General Health Insurance Scheme
- the employer must have authorised them to take that type of leave.
A mother who is insured for general sickness and maternity is entitled to cash benefits during pregnancy and childbirth for up to 410 calendar days, of which 45 days are prior to the birth.
Let’s take a closer look at how the amount of the maternity benefit is calculated – a topic of interest to every expectant and new mother.
The daily cash benefit for pregnancy and childbirth is set at 90 per cent of the average daily gross pay as shown on the payslip or the average daily social security income on which – the respective social security contributions due; and, for self-employed persons, – social security contributions paid for sickness insurance for the period of 24 calendar months preceding the month in which maternity leave commences. Of course, the daily cash benefit cannot exceed the average daily net remuneration for the period on which the benefit is calculated. Furthermore, it cannot be less than the minimum daily wage set for the country.
Many people think that maternity pay is calculated on the basis of their gross salary. This is not the case. Let’s look at an example in which a young mother has been receiving a gross monthly salary of 10,000 BGN over the last 24 months (before taking maternity leave). She will not receive benefits based on her salary of 10,000 BGN. Instead, they will be calculated on the basis of her insurable earnings, which in this case will be equal to the maximum insurable earnings.
In the example given, there is a significant difference in the amounts, as the maximum insurable earnings are 3,750 BGN (from 1 January 2024; prior to that date, the figure was 3,400 BGN). To summarise: the amount on which cash benefits are calculated cannot exceed the maximum monthly insured earnings for the relevant period.
Nowadays, it is increasingly common for people to work under more than one employment relationship, for different employers. Cash benefits for individuals who, at the start of their maternity leave, are insured under the Social Insurance Scheme on the basis of more than one employment relationship or basis for insurance, are paid separately for each of these relationships or bases. It is important to note here that they must submit separate copies of their maternity certificates, and separate application forms, to each of their employers.
In this case, when visiting a doctor or upon discharge from hospital, they should inform the relevant parties and request the necessary documents – additional sick notes issued in relation to the relevant legal relationships.
Anyone who is interested and wishes to calculate their estimated maternity benefit can use the calculators provided by the National Social Security Institute for this purpose. You can follow this link: https://reps.nssi.bg/CalculateMaternityBenefits/. To use this service, you will need a Personal Identification Code issued by the NSSI.
After taking maternity leave, new mothers are also entitled to leave to care for a child up to the age of two. In this case, the benefit is not calculated as a proportion of their insured earnings. The amount is determined annually on the basis of the Social Insurance Budget Act. For 2024, this is 780 BGN for a full month.
The topic of maternity in Bulgaria is often debated, particularly the rights and privileges of Bulgarian mothers, as maternity leave here is considerably longer than in other European countries. However, from a financial perspective, do Bulgarian mothers actually have any advantages? Are there equal rights regarding admission to nurseries and kindergartens, and, just as importantly, do the conditions there meet the children’s needs? We leave these issues for you to consider.
