Private security guards can now take the job as a second contract, after parliament gave final approval in a second reading to changes to the Private Security Activity Act. The Council of Ministers tabled the bill.

Until now, a guard's employment contract had to be their main one. The bill's explanatory notes say that dropping this rule will let more people work as guards on the side.

The changes also cover managers of companies and other legal entities. They must now meet the same requirements for private security work.

For personal protection, the client can now be a legal entity as well as an individual. The sponsor of the bill says that until now only a company manager or owner could be the client. The new rule applies when a firm pays for the protection of its manager, owner, employee or another official who faces a real threat and cannot pay for it themselves.

A tariff will now set the state fee for certificates. It applies to traders registered in Bulgaria and to those registered in another EU country, in a country party to the European Economic Area Agreement, or in Switzerland. The sponsor says the aim is to treat the two groups equally.

MPs rejected a proposal by Anna Bodakova of Democratic Bulgaria to bar people convicted of sexual offences, including against minors, from private security work, even if their convictions have been expunged. "I believe this way the law will protect more Bulgarian citizens and children," Bozhidar Bozhanov of Democratic Bulgaria told the chamber.

Parliament also changed how many members from the National Police Chief Directorate of the Interior Ministry sit on the Advisory Council for Cooperation on Private Security Activity. That number will equal the number of authorised representatives of security firms' associations.