What Are The Public Holidays in Bulgaria in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Bulgaria (2026)

In Bulgaria, public holidays are set at national level and apply across the country. Use the table below to plan staffing, leave, and payroll for your Bulgarian team in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Bulgarian labour law generally requires employers to treat official public holidays as paid non-working days for employees who would normally work on those days. The rules apply nationwide, so you do not need to navigate regional differences, but you do need to watch for government decisions that may move or extend holidays when they fall on weekends.

Where a public holiday falls on a day that is normally a working day for your employee, they are entitled to be off work with their regular pay, unless they are lawfully required to work on the holiday. Part-time employees are entitled to paid public holidays on the same basis as full-time staff, proportionate to their normal working schedule. If a public holiday falls on a non-working day for a particular employee, there is usually no additional paid day off unless the government specifically declares a substitute day.

If your business requires employees to work on a public holiday, this is treated as work on a public holiday and must be compensated at a higher statutory rate. In practice, this means you should obtain the employee’s consent where required, record the hours clearly, and pay the correct premium on top of their normal pay. Collective agreements or individual contracts can provide more generous terms, but not less favourable ones than the Labour Code.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to respect public holiday rules in Bulgaria can trigger administrative sanctions. The General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency is the main enforcement authority and can carry out inspections, review working time records, and issue mandatory instructions to employers.

If you do not grant paid leave on public holidays, or if you underpay employees who work on those days, the labour inspectorate can impose fines on responsible individuals and property sanctions on companies. Repeated or serious breaches can lead to higher penalties and closer monitoring. Common mistakes include treating public holidays as ordinary working days without premium pay, misclassifying employees as contractors to avoid holiday obligations, and failing to keep accurate working time and payroll records.

To reduce risk, your company should keep clear internal policies on public holidays, ensure employment contracts and schedules reflect Bulgarian rules, and regularly audit payroll to confirm that holiday pay and any required premiums are correctly calculated and documented.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Work performed on a public holiday in Bulgaria is not just ordinary overtime – it is subject to specific premium pay rules under the Labour Code. When an employee works on a public holiday, you must pay at least a statutory multiple of their regular hourly rate for those hours, even if they have not exceeded their normal weekly or monthly working time. If the hours on the holiday also push the employee over the standard working time limits, they may be entitled to both overtime compensation and the public holiday premium.

In practice, this means you should track holiday work separately in your timekeeping system and apply the correct multiplier for public holiday hours. Collective bargaining agreements or internal policies may set higher rates than the legal minimum, so always check which rules apply to your workforce. Because public holidays can also shift working patterns, you should review any summarised calculation of working time to ensure that holiday hours are correctly counted and that rest period requirements are still met.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing Bulgaria's public holidays and leave rules doesn’t have to be complex. Playroll keeps you 100% compliant by automatically tracking local holidays, observed days, and pay requirements –  so your team is paid correctly and on time, every time.

Whether you’re hiring your first employee or scaling a growing team, Playroll lets you employ talent without setting up a local entity. We handle compliant contracts, benefits, and payroll in one platform, so you can reduce compliance risk and focus on growing your business while we take care of the heavy-lifting in the background. Book a chat with our team to get started.