“Compared to 10 years ago, the percentage of people working from their homes and using digital platforms has doubled, and COVID-19 has simply catalyzed the conversations on working from home and the regulation of working time”, Todor Kapitnov – National Secretary at the Department for Protection of Trade Unions Rights and Labor Conflicts at CITUB - explained in BNT’s "The Day Begins".
He said that according to statistics, over 50% of working Bulgarians use online forms of communication in their work.
The expert in protection of employers' interests at the Bulgarian Industrial Association Jasmina Saraivanova noted that in the last year many things have changed - both for employers and employees. We all had to reshape our work habits for a few days just to adjust to the new conditions.
The new moments that have arisen are both purely technological and psychological. Changing one regime with another will inevitably affect the labor process, Saraivanova believes.
In our country, the matter of home office is not regulated by the Labor Law. Purely legally, the understanding of the work week and work time has not changed within the last year.
"The question is to what extent the regulations are being followed under these new conditions," Kapitanov noted.
Research shows that more than 30% of people have recently reported that working from home causes the syndrome of being "always online". Even after working hours, many continue to work, and continue to receive orders.
A European directive is currently being prepared to protect workers' health.
According to Saraivanova, employers do not deliberately abuse the work time of their employees, and in this case it is due to the new regime.
