A salary change can reach payroll while the employment-record update is still waiting for action. For international employers and EOR partners, that is a useful reminder: paying someone correctly and maintaining their employment record are connected responsibilities, but they need separate checks.
Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) has maintained the Employment Register for Labour Code employment relationships since 1 June 2025. It contains unified electronic employment records. By October 2026, the register should be treated as part of routine employment administration, rather than a future digital project. [5]
Connect the record to the underlying employment event
The NRA describes records covering the employer and employee, contract dates, changes, termination, basic remuneration and other employment details. Its guidance also identifies reportable changes such as position, working time and agreed annual leave. [5]
Therefore, the starting point should be the confirmed employment event. Identify what changed, which document supports it and when it takes effect. A message from the client may explain a business request, but the responsible employment team still needs to establish how that request should be implemented.
Give each handover a named owner
A practical sequence starts when the client or manager describes a proposed hange. The local employment contact then reviews the facts and identifies the ocumentation and reporting steps. Payroll receives the confirmed inputs, while the reporting owner checks the register action.
Build reporting into the working process
Set internal cut-offs around the statutory requirements
The NRA FAQ summarises three-day reporting periods for concluding or amending employment contracts and seven days for termination. These are not a reason to wait until the last moment. The responsible specialist should confirm the event, applicable deadline and any pre-start requirements for the actual case. [6]
In practice, agree an earlier internal cut-off for receiving complete information. Also name a backup contact for absences. If the client has not supplied a required detail, raise the gap promptly instead of allowing an incomplete case to disappear inside a shared inbox.
Check acceptance and resolve exceptions
Do not treat sending a file as the final control. Build a confirmation step into the operating checklist so the reporting owner can distinguish a prepared submission from a completed registration. Where the result is unclear, record an open action and the person responsible for resolving it.
The NRA FAQ explains that missed deadlines and rejected records have specific procedures. Consequently, staff should escalate these cases for the correct route instead of improvising a resubmission. A short exception log can show the issue, next action, owner and completion evidence. [6]
Review legacy paperwork separately
Electronic administration does not remove the need to review older employment documentation. Keep a separate list of unresolved legacy records and ask the employment adviser to confirm what must be retained, completed or returned. This prevents historical issues from being mixed into a checklist for a new hire.
Similarly, do not assume that every active contract needs to be entered again simply because the system changed. The NRA FAQ explains that initial information was built from the earlier contract register, with subsequent reportable events requiring the relevant updates. [6]
Agree what the international client needs to see
The client needs enough information to understand whether its request has been completed. That may be a status update and an explanation of any outstanding action. It should not automatically mean circulating the employee’s complete employment history across the supplier chain.
Before the first hire, agree the reporting format, recipients and escalation contact. Ask how the employment partner will handle a correction, a late client instruction or an employee question. A hypothetical walkthrough can expose unclear responsibilities without sharing a real employee file.
Use the process to assess a Bulgarian partnership
For EOR providers and recruitment agencies, the useful question is who owns each step between the agreed employment terms and the official record. A reliable discussion covers the handover, checks and exception route, rather than stopping at whether a team can access a portal.
Evaluating Bulgarian employment delivery? Contact Excellence BC with your expected hiring
volume, target timing and current administration questions. The manager can discuss the proposed arrangement and the responsibilities that need to be agreed before the first hire.