Subordinates to Denitsa Sacheva received in July bonuses higher than their salaries

Employees in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and its structures received in July this year bonuses in the amount of BGN 9,826,650. This is an “additional remuneration for achieved results” in the second quarter of the year. In many cases, it is several times higher than the salaries of officials, according to information of “Pro Veritas”.

The amount is likely to be even higher, after receiving the full volume of reports for five of the structures, secondary administrators of budget funds in the system of the ministry. They were requested by “Pro Veritas” under the Law on Access to Public Information.

The additional remunerations of the employees in the state administration have been regulated since 2012 by the Civil Servant Act. They are paid four times a year, at the end of each quarter, and the cost of this should not exceed 30% of the salary budget.

In April this year, the prime minister loudly announced that he was imposing an anti-crisis measure due to austerity – “freezing” of bonuses for civil servants. The “thawing” happened quietly, and “Pro Veritas” learned about the payment of the additional remuneration from its sources days after the beginning of the anti-government protests.

 “Not to be taken into account…“

The employees of the Social Assistance Agency, for example, received BGN 5.1 million at the end of July in excess of their salaries, according to the data provided.

The amount is divided among 4,581 officials, which makes over BGN 1,100 for each of them. The money was paid on the basis of the Civil Servant Act, the Labor Code, the Ordinance on Salaries in the State Administration and the State Budget Act for 2020, the Agency’s response reads.

However, it omits another ground – Order of the Executive Director of the Agency of July 15 this year, issued four days before the payments are ordered. This order instructs the local directors that “when determining the amount of the additional incentive, Section 4 of the Agency’s Internal Rules for determining salaries shall not be taken into account”.

The section in question regulates who and to what extent is entitled to additional incentives. The section stipulates that the bonuses must not exceed 30% of the costs of salaries, wages and compulsory social security contributions from the agency’s budget. Ignoring it, as stated in the order, would mean only one thing – not to limit the determination of the material incentive to 30%, which is probably the explanation for the higher bonuses paid in the first month of the anti-government protests.

Bonuses higher than salaries

About the strangely increased additional reimbursements in July, “Pro Veritas” learned from employees of the system, who requested anonymity. According to them, for the second quarter additional money was paid several times higher than their salaries. Thus, an employee with a basic salary of BGN 1,300 was stimulated with just under BGN 5,000.

In the Employment Agency and its territorial divisions, to which the Labor Offices belong, 1,716 employees have received a total of BGN 3.1 million or about BGN 1,800 per person. This is also one of the cases in which the bill shows that the amount of the additional incentives has exceeded that of the salaries.

In the Executive Agency “General Labor Inspectorate”, 414 employees with labor contracts received a total of BGN 620,276.00, or nearly BGN 1,500 per person. According to the information provided, BGN 201 thousand of social security contributions have been accrued on these bonuses, at the expense of the budget.

In the Social Protection Fund, nine employees are “stimulated” with BGN 25,000.00, which includes social security contributions and taxes due. This makes BGN 2,800 gross per person (again according to the provided data).

In the administration of the ministry itself, 338 employees were paid BGN 752 thousand for achieved results or over BGN 2,200 each. The decision was taken by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva in compliance with all regulations, the response of the ministry says, sent to “Pro Veritas”.

By the way, the connection with the protests may not be only apparent. Before “Pro Veritas” employees said that they were warned not to participate in them because they will be deprived of bonuses for future periods.

In July, employees of the National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration, as well as the Center for Human Resources Development and Regional Initiatives were left without additional material incentives. What is the reason for the two structures to be off the list of those awarded for special merits, it is not clear from the information provided.

The information on the additional remunerations paid in the structures of the Ministry of Social Affairs, “Pro Veritas” received in accordance with the Law on Access to Public Information. The decision to provide the reference specified a period of up to 30 days in which the individual administrations shall provide the requested data. This period has not expired yet, which explains the lack of information from the reference on the additional remuneration distributed to the Agency for People with Disabilities, the Agency for Child Protection and the Labor Conditions Fund.

How much are the bonuses in the Ministry of Finance?

The distribution of bonuses to government officials did not happen only in the system of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. According to sources of “Pro Veritas”, the employees in the structures of the Ministry of Finance also received solid additional stimulation in July.

After sending questions, they did not deny, but asked for more time to prepare a report on the amount of additional money paid together with the salaries, as the amount of information that had to be processed was too large.

For all from the heart

At the beginning of August this year, the government allocated BGN 212 million for higher salaries to employees in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Interior and their structures. Other ministries also made adjustments to the salary items in their budgets, but the amount was not announced. It was only publicly announced that “changes are being made to ensure a 30% increase in workers’ salaries”. The argument for this generosity was the same for all: civil servants “are loaded with tasks for mastering the pandemic and the consequences from Covid-19,” and besides they are first-line employees “whose duties include ‘field’ service and control, with direct contact with other persons”. Somewhere, the need for higher motivation of those “directly related to the consequences of the epidemic crisis”, is emphasized.