Documents

Complaint to your employer about harassment at work

A colleague or a manager makes a target of you for being LGBTI, and you do not know who to tell, or how.

Verified 14 August 2026

This letter tells your employer: here is what is happening, here is who is doing it, here is who saw it — and the law obliges you to investigate immediately, to stop it, and to discipline the person if he works for you. It is not a complaint to the state and it is not a court claim. It is the first piece of paper with a date and a filing number on it, and everything that comes after stands on it, because it is what proves your employer knew.

Goes to: To your employer — through the registry office, the front office or HR. On paper, signed in ink, in two copies. Not by unsigned email.
Who else reads it: The person it is about. A чл. 17 investigation in practice works by hearing out the person you name, and from that moment he knows there is a signed piece of paper with your name on it. Besides him: whoever takes the document in at the registry, HR, the manager, and almost always the company’s lawyer. In a twelve-person office that means the whole office.
Can this be taken back: You can withdraw the complaint at any time. You cannot make your employer un-know it.
Deadline: There is no deadline for you. The employer’s deadline is „незабавно“ — immediately, with no number of days attached to it. The clock that can catch you out is a different one: if this ends in dismissal you have 2 months from the day of termination, under чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 2 of the Labour Code.
Legal basis: чл. 17 of the Protection against Discrimination Act: an employer who receives a complaint from a worker who considers themselves subjected to harassment, including sexual harassment, at the workplace is obliged to investigate immediately, to take measures to stop the harassment, and to impose disciplinary liability if the harassment was committed by another worker or employee of theirs. Around it stand чл. 18 (the employer must take effective measures to prevent all forms of discrimination at the workplace), чл. 5 (harassment counts as discrimination), and § 1, т. 1 and т. 2 of the Supplementary Provisions, which say what harassment is and what sexual harassment is.

Before you send it

Do not write this on a work computer or over the office Wi-Fi. Your employer’s network sees which page you opened before you have typed a single letter.
A чл. 17 investigation outs you. The employer is obliged to investigate — which means questioning people, by name, about things that were said about you. In a twelve-person office, or a workshop in a small town, the whole team knows by Thursday, whatever the letter says and however decent your boss is. Settle that with yourself beforehand, because afterwards there is no way back.
Write facts and exact words, and nothing else. Date, place, who was present, and what was said — verbatim, in quotation marks, slurs included. No „constantly“, no „everyone“, no adjectives. Every sentence here is a sentence you may have to repeat before a panel of the Commission or in a courtroom, looking the man in the eye. It carries legal weight too: in proceedings for protection against discrimination, the burden of proving otherwise passes to the other side only once you have presented facts from which discrimination may be inferred (чл. 9 ЗЗДискр).
Do not out anybody else. No names of other LGBTI colleagues, nobody’s HIV status, nobody else’s relationship — even when it is part of the story. This document goes to your employer and to his lawyer.
If it is already physical, or if the perpetrator is the owner, this letter is not your first step. By law this document sets the employer against the perpetrator; when the perpetrator is the employer, you are handing him a signed list of what you know with nobody standing between you. If there is violence: 112, then a doctor the same day for a medical certificate. Know the cost of that too — a report of an offence the state prosecutes cannot be withdrawn once it is in, even if you change your mind, and the case may be heard in a small town with your orientation as something to be proved. So the order is doctor, lawyer, and only then paper.
Ask a lawyer how the ground should be pleaded, before you file. Two things you should not decide alone. First: § 1, т. 8 of the Supplementary Provisions says protection also covers cases where the characteristic is only presumed, or belongs to a person you are associated with. Second: gender identity is not among the grounds listed in чл. 4, ал. 1 — although that list ends open, with grounds established by law or by an international treaty to which Bulgaria is a party. How that is written in your case is a lawyer’s question, and legal help at „Действие“ is free: legal@deystvie.org.

What happens after you file it

Silence first, then a lawyer. The complaint rarely stays inside HR — it is forwarded to the company’s lawyer, and from then on the person across from you is somebody whose job is to reduce the employer’s risk, not to help you.
The accused finds out. He is heard — that is how the investigation is done — and from that moment he knows there is a signed paper with your name on it. The chill in the corridor is not accidental; it is part of the procedure.
An invitation to give written explanations under чл. 193 КТ about something else entirely. Lateness, a report, the tone of an email nobody minded for two years. This is the standard counter-move and it is easy to recognise. Answer in writing, on time, calmly, and keep a receipted copy.
A „reorganisation“ a few weeks later — dismissal for a staffing cut or for a fall in the volume of work (чл. 328, ал. 1, т. 2 and т. 3 of the Labour Code), perfectly lawful-looking, landing exactly on your post. If it gets that far you stop writing letters and go to a lawyer: the deadline is 2 months from termination (чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 2 КТ).
The law calls all of this преследване — victimisation — and treats it as discrimination (§ 1, т. 3 of the Supplementary Provisions, чл. 5 ЗЗДискр). Said plainly: a prohibition does not pay rent. If they take your job, you are without a salary for as long as the procedure lasts — and that is the sum you do before you file, not after.

Have you been dismissed, or has an order been served on you — a dismissal or a disciplinary sanction?

Stop. Your clock is a different one now.

If you have been dismissed, your deadline is 2 months from the day of termination — чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 2 of the Labour Code. If the order imposes the sanction „забележка“, a reprimand, the period is 1 month from the day it was served (чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 1 КТ). For „предупреждение за уволнение“, a warning of dismissal, it is 2 months (чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 2 КТ). Which deadline is yours can be read off the order itself — take it with you to the lawyer.

Not the three-year deadline at the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. These are different doors with different clocks, and one does not stop the other. This is exactly where people lose their cases.

This letter is not the document for your situation. It is written while you are still employed.

Go to a lawyer now, this week. „Действие“ do it for free: legal@deystvie.org.

What you type here stays here

The form has nowhere to submit to: the rule form-action 'none' in the site's security policy forbids your browser from submitting it anywhere at all. We receive nothing, and could not.

But the network sees that you opened the page. Do not open this on a work or school device, and not over the work Wi-Fi.

Nothing is saved. Reload the page and what you typed is gone — that is deliberate.

EmployerWrite it exactly as it stands in your employment contract, with the town.Your nameThere is no anonymous route: the чл. 17 duty arises from a complaint by a worker or employee, and an unsigned note is not one.Job titleDepartment, unit or siteIf there are no departments where you work, write the site, the shift or the team.Contact telephoneAddress for correspondenceThis is where the letters will arrive. It does not have to be where you live — it can be a friend’s address in another town, or a law office that has agreed to it. If the people you live with do not know about you, think twice before writing your home address.SalutationThe general salutation stands by default and is always right. Change it only if you know for certain who will read the letter.How you qualify itThe first is harassment because of your orientation — it says in writing that you are LGBTI, and that is both its force and its cost. The second is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature — for that one the law requires no protected ground at all. If both apply, take the first and describe everything in section I.What is happeningOne incident per line, oldest first. The exact words in quotation marks. If it has happened dozens of times, give at least the first, the worst and the most recent, and say so plainly: „this repeats roughly once a week“.By whomName and position. If he is your direct manager, or the owner, say so plainly — it changes the risk to you and it is the first thing a lawyer will ask.Witnesses and evidenceWho was there. Messages, emails, rotas, group chats. Do not write that somebody will testify unless you have asked them — colleagues step back the moment they hear the word „проверка“, an investigation.AttachmentsFor example: „1. Printout of messages of 12.03.2026 — 2 pages.“ If you are attaching nothing, write „Няма.“ — none.DateThe date you will actually hand it in — not today’s, if you are taking it in tomorrow.

The document

To [ the employer’s name ] through the registry office

COMPLAINT of harassment at the workplace, on the basis of чл. 17 of the Protection against Discrimination Act

from [ your full name ], employed as [ job title ] [ department, unit or site ] contact telephone: [ telephone ] address for correspondence: [ address for correspondence ]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to you in your capacity as my employer. I consider that I am being subjected to harassment at the workplace, and I am filing this complaint under чл. 17 of the Protection against Discrimination Act.

I. WHAT IS HAPPENING

[ by date: when, where, exactly what was said or done, who was present ]

II. BY WHOM

[ name, position, and whether he is your manager ]

III. WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE

[ who saw or heard it, and what you have kept ]

IV. HOW I QUALIFY IT

Variant — Harassment because I am LGBTI — on a protected ground

What is set out above constitutes harassment within the meaning of § 1, т. 1 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Protection against Discrimination Act, carried out on a ground under чл. 4, ал. 1 of the Act — sexual orientation. Under чл. 5 of the Act, harassment on a protected ground counts as discrimination.

Variant — Conduct of a sexual nature — sexual harassment

What is set out above constitutes sexual harassment within the meaning of § 1, т. 2 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Protection against Discrimination Act — unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. For this the Act does not require a ground under чл. 4, ал. 1 to be present. Under чл. 5 of the Act, sexual harassment counts as discrimination.

V. WHAT I ASK YOU TO DO

On the basis of чл. 17 of the Protection against Discrimination Act, I ask you:

1. to carry out an immediate investigation into this complaint;
2. to take measures to stop the conduct described above;
3. to impose disciplinary liability on the perpetrator, if he is a worker or employee of yours;
4. to notify me in writing of the outcome of the investigation and of the measures taken, at the address for correspondence given above;
5. not to place me in a less favourable position for having filed this complaint. Victimisation of a person who has taken action to protect themselves against discrimination counts as discrimination under чл. 5 in conjunction with § 1, т. 3 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act.

I would remind you that under чл. 18 of the Act the employer is obliged to take effective measures to prevent all forms of discrimination at the workplace.

VI. ATTACHMENTS

[ a numbered list of what you are attaching ]

Date: [ date ]

Signature: ______________________

[ your full name ]

No printer? Print the blank form at a copy shop and fill it in by hand — a handwritten document is just as valid. It is also the safest option: no file, no print queue, no Downloads folder.

Before you press Print: in the print settings, untick "Headers and footers". Otherwise the page title and the site address appear on the sheet — and whoever receives the document sees them.

How to file it so that it counts

Ask for a filing number. Without one you have no proof that you filed anything — and any later victimisation claim rests on exactly this, that the employer knew. Take it in on paper, in two copies: one stays with them, the other comes back to you with a number and a date on it.
If they refuse you a number — post it with acknowledgment of receipt, through a licensed postal operator, to the company’s registered address. The receipt does the same job.
Keep the receipted copy and photograph it the same day. Do not leave the photograph only on the phone you carry into work.
Do not wait for the investigation. The law obliges the employer to act immediately but gives him no deadline. If this ends in dismissal, your deadline is 2 months from termination under чл. 358, ал. 1, т. 2 КТ — and it is running while they „are still looking into it“.
Sign nothing on the spot. If they offer you termination by mutual consent, you have 7 days to answer and silence counts as refusal (чл. 325, ал. 1, т. 1 КТ). Sign, and there is no dismissal left to challenge — you lose the case before you have brought it.

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