Disciplinary Dismissal — A Step-by-Step Guide for Employers (2026)

Three Disciplinary Sanctions (Art. 188 of the Labour Code)

The Labour Code provides for an exhaustive, closed list of only three disciplinary sanctions that an employer may impose on employees:

1. Reprimand — the mildest sanction, primarily of a warning nature.
2. Warning of dismissal — a medium-severity sanction, preceding a potential subsequent dismissal.
3. Dismissal — the most severe disciplinary sanction, resulting in unilateral termination of the employment contract.

The list under Art. 188 of the Labour Code is exhaustive. This means that any other sanctions are unlawful — the employer has no right to impose fines, deductions from salary, withholding of bonuses, demotion, or any other “creative” sanctions under the guise of a disciplinary measure. Such actions are null and void and may give rise to separate claims by the employee.

It is important to note that the employer is not required to escalate sanctions gradually. A reprimand or warning of dismissal does not need to be imposed before dismissal — even a first offence may lead directly to disciplinary dismissal if its gravity justifies it. When choosing a sanction, the employer must observe the criteria under Art. 189 of the Labour Code: the gravity of the breach, the circumstances in which it was committed, and the overall conduct of the employee. The sanction must be proportionate to the breach.

The principle of ne bis in idem fully applies in disciplinary proceedings — no more than one disciplinary sanction may be imposed for the same breach. If the employer has already issued a reprimand for a particular act, it cannot subsequently impose dismissal for the same act.

Grounds for Disciplinary Dismissal (Art. 190 of the Labour Code)

Article 190 of the Labour Code exhaustively lists the grounds on which the employer may impose the most severe disciplinary sanction — dismissal:

1. Three instances of being late or leaving early in one calendar month, each of at least 1 hour. “Calendar month” means the period from the 1st to the last day of the respective month, not a 30-day rolling period.
2. Failure to appear at work for two consecutive working days, or for a total of three working days in one calendar month. Undisputed proof is absence without a valid reason.
3. Systematic breaches of labour discipline — repeated breaches which, taken individually, may not be sufficiently severe, but together reveal a persistent negative attitude of the employee towards their employment duties.
4. Abuse of the employer’s trust or dissemination of confidential information about the employer. This includes disclosure of trade secrets, client databases, financial information, etc.
5. Defrauding citizens by employees in trade or services through misrepresentation of the price, weight or quality of a good or service.
6. Participation in gambling through the telecommunication facilities of the enterprise, where the costs are to be reimbursed by the employee.
7. Other serious breaches of labour discipline — a general “catch-all” clause allowing the employer to react to serious breaches not falling within the previous points. The assessment of seriousness is made on a case-by-case basis.

This final “open” clause is the most commonly used in practice, but also the most risky for the employer — it is precisely here that courts most strictly assess whether the breach is genuinely “serious” within the meaning of the law.

Mandatory Hearing (Art. 193 of the Labour Code)

Article 193 of the Labour Code is the most critical provision of the entire disciplinary procedure and also the most frequent reason for the annulment of disciplinary sanctions by the courts. The law requires that before imposing any disciplinary sanction — including the mildest, a reprimand — the employer must:

• hear the employee, or
• accept their written explanations,

and collect and assess the evidence they identify.

The sanction for breach of this obligation is uncompromising: under Art. 193, para. 2 of the Labour Code, if the employer has not requested written explanations or heard the employee, the court annuls the disciplinary sanction without examining the merits of the dispute. This means that even if the breach is proven and its gravity justifies dismissal, the sanction will be annulled solely due to the procedural defect. For this reason, this formality is the most frequent cause of annulment of disciplinary dismissals in Bulgarian case law.

The only exception is provided in Art. 193, para. 3 of the Labour Code: the provision does not apply where the explanations of the employee have not been heard or given through their own fault — for example, in cases of prolonged absence without justification, refusal to accept the invitation, or refusal to give explanations.

How should the request be drafted?

Best practice is for the request for written explanations to be formal and in writing, clearly identifying:

• the specific act for which explanations are sought (date, place, circumstances);
• a reasonable deadline for submitting the explanations (typically 3–7 days);
• a warning that, if no explanations are submitted, the sanction will be imposed without them.

The request must be served against signature and, if refused, by registered mail with return receipt or by notarial invitation. Any doubt is interpreted in favour of the employee.

Deadlines for Imposing Sanctions (Art. 194 of the Labour Code)

Article 194 of the Labour Code sets out two absolute preclusive deadlines for imposing a disciplinary sanction. Missing either extinguishes the employer’s right to sanction, regardless of the gravity of the breach:

Both deadlines must be complied with simultaneously. If a breach was committed on 1 March and discovered by the employer on 1 December, the employer has 2 months from discovery (until 1 February the following year) — but cannot exceed 1 year from commission (i.e. until 1 March the following year). In practice, the shorter deadline is binding.

Where the breach also constitutes a crime relevant to the sanction imposed, the special deadline runs from the entry into force of the criminal sentence or penalty decree, not from the date of discovery.

The deadlines under Art. 194 of the Labour Code do not run during lawfully taken paid annual leave or during a lawful strike. During such periods the employer cannot impose a sanction, but the deadline is correspondingly suspended. Upon the employee’s return, the deadline continues to run from the point at which it was suspended.

Reasoned Order (Art. 195 of the Labour Code)

Disciplinary sanctions are imposed by a written order issued by the employer or a person authorised by the employer. Under Art. 195, para. 1 of the Labour Code, the order must contain the following mandatory elements:

• The offender — full name and position of the employee;
• Description of the breach — concrete and factually set out, without generic formulations such as “systematic breaches” without specifics;
• When and how the breach was committed — exact date, place, circumstances and manner of commission;
• The sanction imposed — one of the three under Art. 188 of the Labour Code;
• The legal basis — the specific subparagraph of Art. 190, para. 1 relied upon for the dismissal.

An unreasoned or generically formulated order is one of the most frequent grounds for the annulment of disciplinary dismissals. The court cannot make its own assessment of the gravity of a breach that has not been concretely described — and will annul the order as procedurally defective.

Service

The disciplinary order is served on the employee against signature, with the date of service noted. If the employee refuses to accept the order, the employer sends it by registered mail with return receipt. The deadlines for appeal begin to run from the date of service, making this moment critical for the procedure.

Special Protection Against Dismissal (Art. 333 of the Labour Code)

Even where all substantive and procedural prerequisites for disciplinary dismissal are satisfied, the employer must check whether the employee falls within the categories enjoying special protection under Art. 333 of the Labour Code. For these employees, the employer must obtain prior authorisation from the Labour Inspectorate before serving the order:

• Mothers of children up to 3 years old;
• Employees relocated to another position on health grounds (trudoustroeni);
• Employees suffering from certain diseases specified by regulation (e.g. cancer, mental illness, ischaemic heart disease, etc.);
• Employees on any form of lawful leave;
• Elected representatives of a trade union organisation or representatives of employees under Art. 7, para. 2 of the Labour Code.

Particularly important: pregnant women and employees on maternity leave enjoy absolute protection under Art. 333, para. 5 of the Labour Code. They cannot be dismissed disciplinarily even with the authorisation of the Labour Inspectorate — the only exception is full closure of the enterprise.

A dismissal carried out without the required authorisation is null and void and will be annulled by the court without any examination of whether the breach was proven or sufficiently serious. The authorisation must be obtained and included in the file before the issue of the dismissal order, not afterwards.

No Notice Period and No Compensation

Disciplinary dismissal is provided for in Art. 330, para. 2, item 6 of the Labour Code as a ground for termination of the employment contract without notice. The employment relationship terminates immediately as of the date of service of the dismissal order.

In addition to the absence of notice, on a disciplinary dismissal the employee is not entitled to the following compensation that would otherwise be due:

• Compensation under Art. 220 of the Labour Code — compensation for unobserved notice (not due, as the dismissal is without notice);
• Compensation under Art. 222, para. 1 of the Labour Code — compensation on termination for objective reasons (redundancy, reduction in volume of work, etc.) — not due, because the ground for termination is fault-based.

Notwithstanding the fault-based ground, the employee retains the right to:

• Compensation for unused paid annual leave (Art. 224 of the Labour Code) — for all accrued and unused days;
• Unpaid salary for work actually performed until the date of termination;
• Other amounts due (allowances, bonuses, etc., if payable as at the date of termination).

The employer is obliged to pay these amounts within the statutory deadline and to issue the required documents, including forms UP-2 and UP-3 and the employment book with a record of the ground for termination.

Appeal and Consequences of Annulment

The employee has the right to challenge the disciplinary dismissal in court. The deadline for bringing a claim is 2 months from the date of receipt of the dismissal order, under Art. 358, para. 1, item 2 of the Labour Code. Missing this deadline extinguishes the right to sue.

The competent court of first instance is the district court for the employer’s registered address or the employee’s place of work. Under Art. 359 of the Labour Code, employment disputes are heard without the employee paying state fees at first instance — which significantly facilitates access to justice and explains why a substantial proportion of disciplinary dismissals are contested.

Claims under Art. 344, para. 1 of the Labour Code

The employee may join three claims in a single action:

1. Declaration that the dismissal is unlawful and annulment thereof;
2. Reinstatement to the previous position;
3. Compensation for the period during which the employee remained unemployed due to the unlawful dismissal — up to 6 months of gross salary (Art. 225, para. 1 of the Labour Code).

Key point for employers: the burden of proof in employment disputes lies entirely on the employer. The employer must prove both the commission of the breach and compliance with the entire procedure — the written request for explanations, the deadlines under Art. 194, the reasoned order, and so on. Missing even a single document may be fatal. That is why unlawful dismissal often results not from the absence of grounds, but from procedural mistakes that cannot be corrected after the fact.

Practical Tips for Employers

Based on case law and the most frequent mistakes in disciplinary proceedings, we recommend the following practical steps for employers:

1. Document every breach immediately. Prepare inspection protocols, collect written witness statements, retain emails, access-control logs and any other evidence. The date of discovery must be clearly documented, as it triggers the 2-month deadline under Art. 194.
2. Comply strictly with Art. 193 of the Labour Code. Always issue a written request for explanations before imposing any disciplinary sanction. Even where misconduct is categorically established, failure to do so will lead to annulment.
3. Monitor the deadlines under Art. 194. Keep an internal calendar of deadlines for each identified breach. A missed deadline cannot be restored.
4. Reason the order in detail. Specifically describe the act, date, place, manner and legal basis. Avoid generic formulations.
5. Check for special protection under Art. 333. Before any dismissal, check whether the employee is pregnant, on maternity leave, a mother of a child under 3, relocated on health grounds, or suffering from a protected illness. In case of doubt, request authorisation from the Labour Inspectorate.
6. Notify the NRA under Art. 62, para. 5 of the Labour Code within 7 days of the date of termination of the employment relationship. Notification of the NRA is an independent obligation; non-compliance carries administrative sanctions.
7. Consult a lawyer before serving the order. It is cheaper to avoid a mistake in advance than to pay 6 months’ gross salary in compensation after an annulment in court.

For more information on the general framework of Bulgarian employment law, see our page on employment law, as well as our publications on redundancy (staff reductions) and reduction in the volume of work.

Frequently Asked Questions