Bulgaria is one of the countries in the European Union with the longest working week - 39 hours, with an average of just over 36 time for the union. This is shown by the latest Eurostat data. Before us in the ranking according to this indicator are only Greece with almost 40 hours, as well as Romania and Poland - with more than 39 hours each. At the other pole is the Netherlands - with just over 32 hours a week.
According to trade unionists, one of the main reasons for the length of the working week in our country is due to low incomes.
According to Velichka Mikova, national secretary of KNSB and specialist in labor law, the statistics are probably due to the fact that in Bulgaria many people work more than the statutory working hours of 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, because they have to compensate for their low income with additional hours of work.
"We are looking for one of the serious reasons for the longer working week in low wages.
The model of the 4-day working week is already being tested in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Mikova pointed out. However, she clarified that this is not just an experiment:
"It stands behind economically supported actions by the state. Across these countries, the 4-day work week has been established by funding passed through the country's Recovery and Resilience Plans.
According to her, this model is being discussed in Bulgaria, but the social partners have not yet seriously sat down at the negotiating table to see if we can shorten the working week and hours, but preserve all the rights of the workers.
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The practice of hiring workers for a 4-hour work day, but actually working for 8 or even more hours, Mikova noted in the show "First of all".
"We managed to find the balance for telecommuters and to give a better and more up-to-date regulatory framework to allow telecommuters to have more than one place of work, i.e. . a person working remotely may be assigned to work from Sofia, but may change their place of work and work from Varna. It is not considered a change in his employment relationship if this happens within 30 days in a calendar year. The person can freely move to work from his villa, from his home, etc., she commented.
According to her, the right of exclusion is being regulated for the first time in Bulgaria:
"Each worker and employee may not respond to communication initiated by the employer during the time allotted to him for inter-day and inter-week rest. No employer has the right to disturb him at this time. If the worker refuses to answer a call, email or message after their regular working hours or on weekends, they could not be sanctioned by the employer.
The creation of a new Employment Promotion Act is pending, Velichka Mikova also said.