Bureaucracy exists in each and every country. In some, one can talk to people and sometimes run into a helpful person. In others it’s all left to technology and on rare occasions a phone call, if a phone number is indeed provided. I spent a few summer visits to Sofia chasing my Bulgarian employment records from an era that has left my memory for good reason.
At the time, there were no electronic records. If you remember from Kafka is laughing in his grave, all we had was a little postcard-sized work-log book with no more than 10 pages. Back then and there, one did not change workplaces that often or that easily. To move from one place to another required special permission and a lot of effort. And still, I had managed to work in four different institutions. My very first job was at a University in Svishtov, a small town on the River Danube. It wasn’t for long, since I got married and moved back to Sofia.
I spent a great part of my Bulgarian employment years in the Institute of Cybernetics, part of the Ministry of Civil Engineering and Architecture. It was right in the city centre, a convenient 10 minutes walking distance from home. When I was on maternity leave with my second child (we had a year of paid leave + an optional 2 years on social), I received a tempting offer to work from home while still on leave, from what was the first Bulgarian private software development company. The offer was too good to pass up, and it was based on a referral from my former manager, which made the bureaucratic arrangements easy.
This resulted in my receiving a full salary + half of my maternity leave pay for a year. The software company delivered a desktop PC (this was before laptops were available) which I set up in a small attic room. In pre-internet days, communications were by phone and a visit to the office once a week. Working from home was based on trust and work assignment. The job lasted for about 2 years, after which I moved on to the Institute of Environmental Studies attached to the Ministry of the Environment.
It is now many years later, and to qualify for a Bulgarian pension, I need 30 years of combined employment from Canada and Bulgaria. If I can find the employment records from the 3 institutions in Sofia, I won’t need to bother tracking down my records from Svishtov University.
The agreement on Social Security between Canada and Bulgaria came into force sometime in 2014, but of course no one publicised it. So, I wasn’t aware that a Bulgarian pension was even an option. Then in the fall of 2015, when chatting with my Polish-Canadian friend who now lives part time in Germany, she mentioned receiving pensions from Poland, Canada and Germany. “You should check with Service Canada”, she suggested. I did find the agreement on the Service Canada site. I had my work cut out for 2016. If I had only known that it would take 3 summers and 4 visits to settle the documentation!
From the previous post, you’ll know that in 2016 I discovered the names of the successors of two of the four institutions I used to work for. I had some leads. In the summer of 2017, I didn’t make a lot of progress. Timing wasn’t good. I thought I’d try to find the third place, but although I found the square where the office had been located, there were now new buildings and streets. No one knew a thing about the former tenant. Without these 2 years I wouldn’t make the 30-year minimum. I was giving up again. The day before our flight back to Toronto, Milan took me to meet a friend of his, an accountant who could shed some light on the entire process. She told me that, based on my age I only needed 28 years and 7 months. Thus, if I couldn’t find the software company, I could go to Svishtov University and the records from there would be enough. A task for the following year.
My time in Sofia in 2018 was spent trying to finalise it all. But things as you know are in constant motion. I was familiar with the National Archive, NOI, from 2016. I knew the room numbers. I knew what kind of forms I needed to fill in for the documents of the Institute of Cybernetics to be issued. But NOI in 2018 was different. No room 216. No room 205. No information desk. The floor was completely redesigned with many counters and no one to ask for anything but the people waiting for service. OK, we’ll deal with this later. Let’s find the Environmental Institute, my last place of work.
I call the phone number I had from 2016. Last time, I talked to Tania. She remembers our conversation. Yes, they are still at the same address. We take the tram and in about 30 mins we find it. I find the HR room. Tania and Nicolina are in the room. I can’t avoid the lecture about the missing work-log book mentioned in the previous post, however after some back and forth the two of them eventually agree that they can issue the documents I need. But I have to come back in a month. “I can’t, I am flying back to Canada at the end of this week. Can you do something?” “No, we can’t”, Tania says. A look at Nicolina gives me the impression that they can. I am told to wait outside, so they can discuss it. Then Nicolina comes out and tells me to follow her. We go to the accounting office and she asks the clerk there if she could prepare the documents this week. As expected, “No way” is the answer. I again wait outside. After that, Nicolina goes back to her office and calls me in. We chat about people we both knew from way back when. The accountant shows up at the door and tells me to come back in 2 days. One down, two more to go. At the end of the chat, Nicolina asks how was my progress with the other institutions. I mention the software company and the fact that no one knows about it, although it was part of a big software development institute. I mention its name. “Oh, really, they are just around the corner from us.”, Tania says. Wow! Talk about lucky coincidence! She could not have been more helpful. I thank both of them and go to the café downstairs where Alex is waiting for me (with my iPad loaded with new library books – A).
We literally run to the other building. It is locked! While trying to understand if there is another entrance, a guy comes down the stairs, unlocks the door and asks me what do I need. “Is this the Software Development institute?” “It was”, the guy says. “It was closed a few years ago”. I tell him that I used to work for a company associated with it. I explain why I am there. “Go to the 3rd floor. The room at the end of the corridor.” And he lets me in. I wake up a dusty empty building. I find the room. I go through a big glass double door into a huge empty room. Dust particles shimmer in the afternoon sun rays filtering through the windows. It’s almost surreal. At the far end, among many empty desks, sits a young and obviously bored girl. “How can I help you?” I tell her my story. She listens with interest and makes helpful comments. She is the right person for this. I can tell she needs to talk to a human being. She’s worked alone in this room for months now. The place is closed and she deals with all the HR formalities related to former employees, including employment records and archives. She chirps and tells me stories that I will never remember. But in the meanwhile, she tells me to wait while she finds my records. I have to come back to pick the documents that need to be written and signed. In 2 days, she apologies. And so, the least expected records are issued first. I no longer need to go to Svishtov. And there’s a thank-you box of chocolates on the desk of the lonely clerk.
Two days pass. We first go to the Software Institute, where they have my documents ready for pick up. I then visit Nicolina and Tania. My records are waiting for me. “Did you find the Software Institute?” Nicolina asks. “Yes”, I say, “and I have the records with me!” Another box of chocolates finds a new home.
So it’s back to NOI. This is the most frustrating place. I ask around and people waiting there tell me to take a number and look at the board for my turn. I have no idea what service I am looking for. Definitely not unemployment. No, not disability. What else? I just take a number and when my turn comes, I go to the counter. I know they have my records from the Institute of Cybernetics. I have the confirmation from 2 years ago. The clerk has no idea what to do. She asks her colleagues. No one seems to know. After some back and forth, they tell me I have to complete a request form – the name of the place, start and end dates etc. This will go to the archives; someone will find the information and eventually they’ll issue the documents. But I have to receive them myself. “No, you can’t authorize anyone because the documents are only given in person.” “Can this be done before my flight?” “No, it takes a few months”, they say. Well with two down and one left I don’t think I have a choice. We’ll have to come back in the fall. And so we did.
And so, just before my 65th birthday, I had all my Bulgarian papers gathered. Then, focused on traveling (glad it was a priority), it took another year for me to decide when I wanted to receive my CPP and OAS. And just before everything was shut down due to Covid, all my papers, including the Bulgarian ones, ended up on the desk of a Service Canada clerk. Did they manage to reach the international department? Were they sent to Bulgaria? I don’t have any reference number or any clue how to trace them. Perhaps I’ll hear from them in a year or two. Or perhaps I will never hear anything after all this work. Kafka, rest well.
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