Remote and home-based work has been fully regulated by Bulgarian law. The changes to the Labor Code have given the green light to this range of jobs coupled with the rights of those who opt for them. Many employers are likely to make use of them as well, as this would save them costs.
What do changes regulate?
Imagine that a skilled accountant lives in Varna. In the meantime a company in Sofia has appointed him to keep its books. The distance of more than 400 km between the two cities is no longer the problem. All the accountant needs is a computer. Computer specialists who develop software are often free where to carry out their jobs, including a foreign country. These are two examples of remote jobs that do not necessarily coincide with home-based work. Remote jobs are mostly focused on areas with heavy use of information technologies. The amendments to the Labor Code endorsed by the Bulgarian parliament regulate work conditions, ways of hiring staff for this kind of a virtual office and other accompanying issues. The trade unions and the employers have agreed upon the amendments.
Remote staff will have equal labor and social security rights with other workers employed by companies, and will be free to sign labor contracts. For quite a few people this is the perfect way of combining work with private engagements. Practice suggests that the model of remote jobs has been expanding. With the said changes Bulgaria has harmonized its legislation with the European and international labor law.
According to Dimitar Brankov, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, remote jobs are based on a few types of contracts: a freelance contract, a labor contract or a direct commercial contract between two companies.
“I expect that at first the interest in services delivered remotely, will be stronger among foreign employers as part of the sphere of outsourcing or reassigned services (assigned to subcontractors),” Dimitar Brankov explains. “If visual control in a UK store is not carried out by somebody on the spot but by a Bulgarian worker or company under a specific contract, the British company will cut its costs. In many countries civil servants do not have office workplaces. They carry out their functions as remote officials of the respective administration.”
Do Bulgarian employers tend to prefer remote job options? According to Dimitar Brankov this model is good for companies who do not need a physical workplace for the performance of functions and services. The obligations of the employer include the provision of the necessary hardware and software and materials. He is also responsible for the maintenance of equipment. The remote employee plans his workday on his own, as well as his holidays, in compliance with either the labor law or with the clauses of the signed contract. Unlike the office where the boss can check the activity of his employees any minute, control with remote and flexible jobs is radically different. The employee should fill in a timesheet endorsed by the employer. In cases when he is dishonest, the employer is free to terminate the contract.
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
