Half of the employers intend to keep the remote forms of employment even after the emergency state is over; another 22% are hesitant.
In a single year, the measures aiming to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus forced employers to drastically change the work organization processes.
Art. 107h of the Labor Code provides a legal definition of the term "telecommuting" which has gained popularity as "home office": "Teleworking is an outsourced form of organizing work implemented by the employer and executed with the use of information technologies, which was previously carried out at the employer's premises."
The practice has shown that society was ill-informed of the matter and that the rights and obligations of both employers and employees were unclear in the newly adopted way of work. This is why we gathered and summarized data on the topic.
The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) surveyed their members on "Covid-19 and remote work" in partnership with the Bulgarian Association for People Management (BAUH). The survey was carried out during the period 2 - 25 April 2021 and included human resources managers from 180 companies across the country and almost all sectors of the economy.
The survey shows that the majority of employers (89%) were partially or fully aware of the legal possibility to organize work remotely prior to the crisis. Only 11% of the respondents stated they were unaware of this labor legislation.
The state of emergency which was introduced in the spring of 2020 forced over half of employers (55%) to start applying telework in their companies, whereas only 28% had previously used it as a way of organizing work. 17% of employers do not work remotely at all.
The situation looks similar with the mixed forms of work - some employees work from home and others - go to their workplace. The percentage of employers applying this work form is slightly higher (both before the emergency and after) - a total of 89%, compared to those who do not apply telework (11%).
Half of the employers do not apply the other type of mixed form of work, in which employees do home-office on certain days of the week. 50% took advantage of this opportunity both before the state of emergency and now.
One-third of the surveyed that practice telework states that 50% of those employed in their businesses work remotely. 37% of employees work up to and over 90% remotely. And in 13% of the cases, 75 % of the employees are teleworking. 17% of respondents indicate that only 10-25% of their employees work from home.
Given the nature of the work, remote employment is most often applied to administrative staff, managers, sales and marketing specialists, financial and accounting specialists, ICT specialists, and customer service. The cases of home employment of technicians, engineers, and others are relatively rare, and this form of work is inapplicable for staff providing security and safety.
The difficulties that every third employer faces (33%) are: the regulation of the requirements and rules for teleworking in the additional agreements with the employees and the provision of the workplaces at home with the necessary equipment.
Following (with 28%): the impossibility of effective monitoring and reporting of the work; communication and feedback difficulties; increasing stress and tension at work; risk assessment and ensuring healthy and safe working conditions.
The third problem group (with 22% each) is the provision of management and control software; problems with labor and technological discipline; motivation problems.
In about 17% of cases, employers are concerned about the provision of information security and the escalation of intra-team and inter-team conflicts and contradictions.
For 11% of employers, the problem is the distribution of work, assignment, and delegation of tasks and delays in deadlines.
11% of the respondents did not face difficulties in applying telework, and only 6% saw a problem with the training of employees.
Reducing overhead costs (72%) and creating flexible forms of work (67%) are the biggest positives of telework, according to survey participants.
The attraction of young employees who prefer this type of work (28%) and the increase in efficiency and productivity (22%) are also listed as pluses.
11% of respondents do not see positives in this type of employment.
Deteriorated teamwork is the biggest disadvantage of teleworking - that's what 61% of the participants in the survey believe.
28% of the respondents believe that the quality, productivity, and efficiency of work decrease, but according to another 50% it's the opposite -the quality, productivity, and efficiency are much better.
According to 11% of the respondents, the responsibility and commitment of the employees are decreasing. On the other hand, 28% claim responsibility and commitment are increasing.
For 17%, there is no change in terms of productivity, quality, efficiency, and teamwork.
17% of the respondents report an improvement in the financial indicators of the company after the introduction of remote forms of employment, and in 11% of the cases, there is a deterioration of the indicators. 33% experienced no changes. 39% of respondents do not have the necessary information to answer this question.
Half of the employers intend to continue the remote forms of employment even after the emergency anti-epidemic measures are over, and another 22% are hesitant. Only 6% of respondents are adamant that they will give up the "home office" to organize the work process.
Half of the respondents do not think that the "home office" increases the workload of employees, while another 28% are of the opposite opinion. 22% find it difficult to judge.
Mixing the spaces of work and personal life, as well as the influence of distractions and unsustainable concentration, are the most common reasons for employees to feel that the "home office" increases the volume of their work (72-78%).
The inability to manage time (44%) and the lack of experience and culture to work in a digital environment (33%) are also problematic.
Some of the reasons for feeling overwhelmed are the poor organization and inability of line managers to apply this type of work (28%), the lack of information and timely feedback (22%), and lack of assistance at work (17%).
Only 6% of the surveyed feel insecure and anxious about the future.
