Payback clause

Name of the instrument - Local language: възстановяване на разходи за обучение
Name of the instrument - English translation: Payback clause
Scheme ID: 33
Country: Bulgaria
Reporting year: 2015
Type of instrument: Payback clause
Type of entry: Single instrument

Short description: Employers and employees can agree on a payback clause. In compensation for employer-provided/financed training, employees commit themselves to stay in the company for an agreed period or (partially) pay back the costs of training. According to the Labour Code, this period differs according to the type of the contract: contract for acquiring qualification: 6 years, apprenticeship contract: 3 years; contract for higher qualification training and retraining: 5 years.
Short description of the related instruments: nap

Level of operation

National

Name of a part of the country

nap

Name of the region (for regional instruments)

nap

Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)

nap

Relevance

Key scheme

Legal basis

Labour Code (Art. 229-234).

Payback clauses may also be regulated by collective agreements in branch/sector organisations and by individual agreements between employer and employee.

Year of implementation

1986

Year of latest amendment

2014

Operation/management

The General Labour Inspectorate, under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, manages the employee's rights and obligations including the payback clause.

Eligible group(s)

All employers, employees

Group(s) with preferential treatment

None

Source of financing and collection mechanism

Employer, employee

Financing formula and allocation mechanisms

The Labour code defines a maximum period that an employee may be liable to work in the same company after completion of training financed by employer. This period differs according to the type of the contract: contract for acquiring qualification (Art. 229) = 6 years; apprenticeship contract (Art. 232) = 3 years; contract for higher qualification training and retraining (Art. 234) = 5 years.

Employee is obliger to pay back the costs of training to the employer in case of employee's voluntary resignation within binding period, dismissal due to a serious contract break or non-termination of the training.
In case of apprenticeship contract, the amount to be reimbursed to the employer may not exceed 3 times the minimum monthly salary for the country.

The conditions for reimbursement of training costs laid down in the Labour code are general. More detailed conditions may be endorsed in the individual contract between employer and employee.

Volumes of funding

Beneficiaries/take up

Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation