site.btaUPDATED Advantages, Disadvantages of Introducing Four-day Workweek - Opinions of Bulgarian Employers, Trade Unions, HR Representatives

The idea of introducing a four-day working week has occasionally appeared in the public domain in recent years. More and more companies around the world are deciding to experiment, reducing working days from five to four. BTA has collected opinions from Bulgarian employers, trade unions and HR representatives on the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a four-day working week.

A better work-life balance, a reduction in sick leave and work accidents and an increase in productivity are among the most frequently argued benefits of introducing a four-day working week. On the other hand, there is the problem of the need to recruit additional staff, which in turn leads to increased staff costs.

Shortage of qualified staff and increasing staff costs

When the employer and the employees agree on an arrangement of working hours that satisfies both parties, as well as the clients, it is welcome, Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) expert Jasmina Saraivanova told BTA. One of the main problems of reducing the workweek from five to four days would be the shortage of skilled labour. According to her, the reduction of the workweek will necessitate the hiring of more people, which in turn will increase staff costs. The shortage of staff is large and for an employer to deprive themself of their best specialists for one day of the week, they will be forced to incur costs to hire others, the expert said.

She said cutting working hours would not be possible in all sectors. It would be difficult where there is a continuous process in production, she said. According to Saraivanova, while it could be easily organised in an accounting firm, the introduction of a four-day workweek would be difficult in health care facilities, schools, the social sector. 

Higher productivity, reduced sick leave and work accidents

National Secretary of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Velichka Mikova said that a reduction of the workweekshould be regulated by legal changes. Currently, the workweek in Bulgaria, by law, is five days, and the working time per week can be up to 40 hours, i.e. the weekly working time can be reduced, but within five days. Therefore, the trade union believes that if a four-day workweek is to be introduced at all, this requires a change in legislation.

A change in legislation without social dialogue cannot be implemented, Mikova said. According to her, the shortened workweek cannot be applied uniformly and everywhere. In public transport, in hospitals, in the media, where work cannot be left - where the production process is continuous, the workweek simply cannot be shortened, she added. 

According to Mikova, reducing the workweek would benefit both employers and employees. On the one hand, employers would save on overheads and on the other, employees would have a better work-life balance. Labour productivity would also improve, given that the worker would be well rested and better able to carry out his daily tasks, Mikova said. She added that the number of sick leaves and work accidents would probably decline. 

On the other hand, employees' remuneration should be considered because it is measured by the work done in the working hours. Working less will mean earning less and the trade unions do not accept this, so there is the need to look for compensatory mechanisms, Mikova added.

Part-time positions increasingly in demand

Human Resources expert and Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Employment Confederation Nadia Vassileva, said that there is ground for introducing a four-day workweek in Bulgaria, as long as it is legally regulated without harming any of the parties. 

According to Vassileva, in 90% of cases the salary does not change, it is still the same as for a five-day workweek. She said that under such a model employees are able to focus, concentrate and are sometimes much more efficient and productive. 

According to her, this model of work can be introduced in all sectors, but after precise preparation. It could immediately be introduced in offices where people do not work in 24-hour mode, she added. Vassileva pointed out that if the workweek was cut, more people would have to be hired, which could be a problem as there has always been a "chronic hunger" for staff in Bulgaria. As a result of the country's demographic structure and almost no import of labour from outside, its economy is struggling.

She added that it is becoming a trend for people to look for jobs with reduced working hours and one that allows them to work two jobs.

In any case, COVID-19 taught employers that it was possible to work remotely and work quite well, which also made the imposition of a four-day work week much easier, Vassileva noted.

Does the four-day work week model work? 

In the summer of 2019, the SIP 2000 consultancy company in Ruse, on the Danube, introduced the four-day workweek and has continued with this working model to this day. Company manager Petar Petev said that the reduction of working days has not affected the company's activity, and the employees' salaries have not been reduced.

The reduction of working hours can be perceived as an economic measure for resource saving, cost cutting. However, the company’s aim was different - to create a different corporate culture. The company has neither working hours nor a workplace, not reducing employee salaries has not affected the company's earnings. In the last two years we have increased salaries by between 10 and 20%, Petev said. 

According to him, losing an employee because of a managerial mistake costs a lot more money afterwards. A one-time salary raise in a year costs less than restoring an identical employee to that job, he added.