Forms of Residence of Workers and Employees Managers and Company Representatives

Forms of Residence of Workers and Employees or Managers and Company Representatives [english]

On 24 March and 7 April 2016, the Legal Days of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, a specialized workshop on topical legal and tax issues took place with the participation of managers, attorneys, human resource managers and chief accountants. The topics discussed at the workshop included the implementation of the amended Value Added Tax Act and the expected developments with regard to the obligation to charge the VAT on the private use of corporate assets (the “weekend” tax), the dismissal of employees, distribution and commercial representation contracts and the rules for the coordination of social security systems within the European Union. The other topical issued discussed at the workshop covered the amendments to the Public Procurement Act and the Personal Data Protection Act, as well as the changes in the minimal wage in Germany.

Dobrev & Lyutskanov Law Firm was represented at the workshop by Ms. Vyara Ivanova, Ms. Tereza Shishkova and Mr. Lyuben Todev, attroneys-at-law. During the second day, the lawyers from Dobrev & Lyutskanov Law Firm made a presentation which they had prepared on the topic of the forms of stay of workers and employees/managers and company representatives – residence permits and work permits. The presentation outlined the issues relating to the stay and work of EU nationals in Bulgaria and the specific features of the Bulgarian legislation with regard to the freedom of movement which is guaranteed by the acquis communautaire. The regime applicable to EU nationals was compared to the regime applicable to third-country nationals and an analysis was made of the opportunities for recruiting non-EU nationals. The presentation explained the opportunities for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship on the basis of investments and the Bulgarian Investment Immigration Programme as a service oriented to the concessions and benefits which the legislation provides to investors. There was also a discussion on the changes in the domestic legislation relating to the labour migration and labour mobility bill which had been adopted by the National Assmebly at its first reading.