About waiting
The most common reason people never get their money is not that they had no right to it. It is that they waited.
Waiting does not improve your position. Witnesses scatter, the company is restructured or emptied, and at some point the claim runs into limitation. The earlier it is taken up, the more options exist.
That does not mean falling out with your employer tomorrow. It means knowing where you stand before you decide what to do.
What can be claimed
Unpaid wages. Compensation for unused leave. Termination payments where they are due. Sums owed for overtime and night work.
Interest for late payment normally runs alongside the principal.
If you worked without a contract, or on part of your pay on paper
This is the position of far more people than admit it, and almost all of them assume they are helpless. They are not.
It is proved through other traces: bank transfers, payroll records, correspondence and messages, rotas, access records, workwear, witnesses, and sometimes through a labour inspectorate check.
Do not hesitate to say so plainly. I am not here to judge you, I am here to work out what can be proved.
If the company has stopped trading
This is where timing matters most. There is a difference between an employer who is late and an employer already in insolvency proceedings. The route to claim differs, and in one of those cases there are deadlines that cannot be recovered.
If you have heard the company is closing, that is the day to call, not the following month.
If you are a foreign national who worked in Bulgaria
Your rights are the same. Language and distance are not obstacles: correspondence and proceedings can run through a power of attorney, and the consultation by video call.
Related
If the payments stopped along with a dismissal, see also unlawful dismissal.
What I will need
The employment contract and any annexes. Payslips or payroll records. A bank statement for the period. Correspondence with the employer, messages included. The termination order if there is one.
If you have none of these, call anyway. Part of the work is establishing what exists and where.
This page provides general information and does not constitute legal advice on any specific case. Rights and deadlines depend on the facts and the applicable law.