Employment Litigation and Restrictive Covenants

We act for both employers and employees when they expect or find themselves in the middle of an employment-related dispute.

Bulgarian employment law was perhaps less affected than other areas by the sweeping modernisation of the 1990s and may be perceived as prescriptive.

At the same time modern employment practices and work patterns are generally readily and creatively adopted in the market. With the increasing emergence of large private employers with cross-border, even globalised workforces and significant Bulgarian bases, we prioritise advising employers in advance of contention breaking out as we find this to be most efficiency-enhancing.

We look for ways to reduce risk (e.g. in the context of interaction between employment and IP or taxation laws).

Sometimes this is not enough. In the Bulgarian employment courts (there is no specialist system for the adjudication of labour disputes), our litigators fearlessly defend clients’ interests. Our in-depth knowledge of the employment legislation allows us to identify the means to success and we are proud of our victories. For our employer clients, the sums involved may be less important than the reputational aspects. For our employee clients, it is a matter of both principle and livelihood.

We act for both employers and workers in the context most typically of changes to the working relationship (but also in related areas ranging from long-arm whistleblower protection to discrimination and from workplace injuries to copyright over works created in the context of employment) and then look for the best outcome for our client.

We are particularly strong where there is a cross-border element to the relationship and mostly advise international clients in Bulgaria.

We recognise that sometimes the interests of our clients are best-served by the settling, and we are well equipped advising clients on such situations sensitively and expeditiously.