25.01.2021

Are we always online when working from home

Since 10 years ago, the percentage of people working from home and working across platforms has doubled, and COVID-19 has simply further catalyzed conversations about teleworking and working hours.

This was explained to BNT by Todor Kapitanov, National Secretary, Department for Protection of Trade Union Rights and Labor Conflicts at CITUB.

He said that according to statistics, over 50% of working Bulgarians use online forms of communication in their work.

The expert on protection of employers' interests in the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce Zhasmina 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 in order to adjust to the new conditions. The new moments that have arisen are both purely technological and psychological. The change of one regime with another will inevitably affect the labor process, Saraivanova believes.

The matter of telework in our country is regulated in the Labor Law. The purely legal understanding of the working week and working hours has not changed in the last year.

"The question is to what extent this thing is observed," Kapitanov noted.

Research shows that more than 30% of people have recently reported that working from home causes the syndrome of being "always online".

After working hours, many people continue to work, continue to receive orders.

A European directive is currently being prepared to protect workers' health.

According to Saraivanova, employers do not deliberately abuse the time of their employees, and in this case it is a new regime.