The Shared Care podcast is part of the CAREdiZO campaign for gender equality in caregiving and the workplace. In episode five we talk with Toma Machev about regulations at the European and national level related to caregivers. Listen to the conversation here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4UxL4DA0mvHkS99Cz0DOil
Transcript o epizod 5
Hello, I'm Natasha Zarankova and I'm back with you in the new episode of the Shared Care podcast. As you know, this is a podcast focused on the equal distribution of care responsibilities. It is part of the CAREdiZo project, funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program of the European Union.
CAREdiZo supports family-friendly policies, encourages men to participate in caregiving and highlights the value of caregiving in society and business. Its activities include research, co-creation workshops, training programs and the development of digital tools such as educational games and podcasts aimed at combating stereotypes and promoting equality. Together with the National Business Development Network from Bulgaria, the project also includes partners from Greece, Cyprus and Lithuania.
Today we speak with Toma Machev, a financial expert and business consultant at Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev. With him, we will discuss the national legal framework of care and how it relates to employers and employees, and how the right of men to provide care in the home is guaranteed.
- Hello! Let's discuss what the European directives are regarding the care that women and men provide in the home and how the equal sharing of this hidden labor is guaranteed.
- Hello! There are two main pillars in European policy. One is the work-life balance directive, which was made in 2019, and the European care strategy, adopted in 2022. The first directive from 2019 sets mandatory minimum standards.
These standards directly affect the daily lives of workers. This directive introduces the first paternity leave. It is a minimum of 10 working days around the birth of a child, paid at the same level as sick leave. The aim is to involve fathers in care from day one.
The other is parental leave, which is non-transferable. That is, each parent is entitled to 4 months of parental leave, two of which are non-transferable and paid.
If the father doesn't use them, the family will lose them. And that's an incentive for men to stay home with their children.
The other part of this directive is flexible working arrangements. The right of parents of children up to 8 years old and caregivers to request flexible working hours, teleworking or reduced working hours.
Regarding the second mandatory directive, namely the European Care Strategy of 2022, it builds on the legal framework with broader social objectives. One is to overcome stereotypes. This is to promote a public debate that care is the responsibility of both partners, not just the woman. The other is investment in services. This means that the European Union calls on countries to invest in affordable childcare and long-term care for the elderly, so that the family can rely on external help, and not just on unpaid work at home.
The third thing that comes to mind is the recognition of informal caregivers. That is, these are guidelines for countries to provide social security and pension rights to people who leave work to care for their loved ones. In terms of how all of this affects the workplace, the change in European rules is transforming corporate culture in several ways.
One way is to reduce the so-called motherhood penalty. That is, when fathers also start taking time off from work to care for their children, employers stop perceiving only women as risky employees, and this equalizes the chances for career advancement.
The other is a change in management. Here, managers are trained to manage their teams, where flexibility is the norm, not the exception. The focus shifts from being in the office to actually getting results.
The third thing that comes to mind is the transformation of social packages. That is, companies are increasingly including additional days for care or mental health support as part of their employee retention policies.
The other is economic activity. These are measures aimed at including millions of women in the labor market who are currently economically inactive due to a lack of balance.
- And how are these new European directives reflected in Bulgarian legislation?
- Bulgaria is a country that is a member of the European Union and it is obliged to comply with the basic requirements of the directives and in particular the 2019 directive, where it makes major changes, especially in the Labor Code and the Social Security Code, which entered into force in August 2022. The specific steps for this, for example, the right to flexible working schemes, which is regulated in Article 167, letter B of the Labor Code. We have here a new type of paid leave for fathers, Article 164 of the Labor Code, if I am not mistaken.
Bulgaria has introduced the right of the father or adoptive parent to paid leave for raising a child up to 8 years of age, which is 2 months. The goal here is that these 2 months cannot be transferred to the mother and the law encourages fathers to actively participate in the care of their children. The father's payment during this period is the same as for the mother. 780 leva will now be updated according to the new budget parameters.
The other is the extension of protection in the event of dismissal. Bulgarian legislation already treats cases of unfavourable treatment more strictly. If an employee, for example, is dismissed or overlooked for promotion after having requested such flexible working hours or having taken care leave, he can seek protection under the Protection against Discrimination Act. The Directive here imposed the burden of proof on the employer. That is, the employer must now prove that the dismissal is not related to the exercise of work-life balance rights.
- You talked a lot about fathers…, we would like to clarify what the Law says about people who work and at the same time have to take care of their loved ones. Which persons fall into the category of caregivers according to Bulgarian legislation?
- In Bulgarian legislation, the term caregiver is primarily defined within the framework of labor law, mainly following the changes to the Labor Code of 2022, which aim to achieve a better balance between professional and private life. According to the Labor Code, paragraph one of the additional provisions, a caregiver or caregiver is a worker or employee who provides personal care or support for a parent, a child, a spouse, another direct relative, brothers, sisters.
For a person to fall into this category before the law, the following specific criteria must be met: for example, a serious medical reason. The relative must be in need of care or support due to a serious medical reason.
There must also be proof of burden, i.e. the need for care is usually proven by a medical document, for example, a report from a medical commission or a decision of the TELC. And what rights do caregivers have according to the legislation? Regarding these persons, their status entitles them to certain reliefs in the labor process. For example, to changes in the way of working. Article 167 letter B of the Labor Code regulates that the worker has the right to offer his employers a change for a certain period of time, which change is related to the duration of working hours, for example, switching to part-time work, or the distribution of working hours, flexible such working hours, or remote work, or remote work. Regarding ...., there is a refusal to work overtime. i.e. workers who care for sick family members can refuse to work such overtime.
This is regulated in Article 147, paragraph one of the Labor Code. There is also a refusal to work at night. These persons have the right to refuse to work at night, unless they have given written consent to this.
Here it is important to make a distinction between a caregiver - according to the Labor Code, this is a person working under an employment contract, and a personal home assistant under the Personal Assistance Act. A personal assistant is a person who provides a service to people with disabilities and receives remuneration for this. This remuneration comes from the state budget, based on an individual assessment of the needs of the person with disabilities.
- In fact, many employees are unaware that the law gives them the right to request flexible working hours to care for a loved one. What might be the most common reasons why employers deny such a request from an employee? And how does the law protect employees in these cases?
- In principle, the Law does not explicitly list reasons for which this request for flexible working hours can be refused, but in practice, employers are most often motivated by some organizational or technical difficulties. For example, if the nature of the work is such that the position requires physical presence, for example, if the person works as a cashier, security guard, worker on some assembly line or is related to working with customers or strictly defined hours, then indeed the employer is motivated by exactly this type of requirement and refuses to introduce flexible working hours.
Another is, for example, if there is some lack of technological security, i.e. when requesting remote work, the employer may claim that there is no secure connection or no software for such remote access. Or if there is some disruption to the work process, there may be a risk of missing deadlines or inability to coordinate the team, if, for example, the employee works atypical hours. Another motivation is also the financial costs, since additional investments are needed to provide conditions for remote work.
- And how, in fact, does the law protect employees in such situations?
- In principle, the law does not guarantee that you will get what you want, but here it gives you a right to negotiate and protects you from arbitrary neglect. What do I mean? First, there is an obligation for a reasoned written response, which is regulated in Article 167, letter B, paragraph 4. That is, this means that the employer is obliged to respond in writing to your offer within 14 days. If he eventually refuses you, he cannot simply say no. The refusal must be motivated. This means that the employer must indicate specific reasons why the request cannot be satisfied. The other is the right to return to the original regime. That is, if you have already agreed on such flexible working hours, you have the right to request a return to your old work schedule. And before the agreed term expires. If, for example, circumstances have necessitated some change and these circumstances have now ceased to exist.
The other thing that is in the law is protection against discrimination and unfavorable treatment. That is, the employer does not have the right to punish you, fire you, or treat you worse just because you have exercised this right to request flexibility under Article 167 letter B. If you believe, for example, that the refusal is malicious or unfounded, you can always contact the enforcement agency, the General Labor Inspectorate.
- What can we advise employees when they want to make such an agreement with their employers?
- The basic advice I can give is to first submit your request in writing. That is, always use an official document, some kind of application, so that this 14-day response period can run. The other thing is to be specific. You should offer an option that minimizes obstacles for the company. For example, I will work from 7 am to 3:30 pm, instead of standard hours, so that I can take care of the family in the evening. Another thing that comes to mind is to attach medical documents, to prove the serious medical reason for the relative in question, so that you can fall within the scope of the law. If the employer still systematically refuses without real arguments, this may be a signal of a lack of supportive company culture, which is a reason to consult a lawyer or a union representative.
- The topic of our podcasts, in which we try to do exactly that - to encourage employers to understand the care needs of their workers, their employees. And that's why I hope more employers will express interest in this topic and listen to our podcasts, to get involved in the trainings that the CAREdiZO project is specifically developing for small businesses and small organizations. What do you think will be the benefits for employers for businesses and organizations, when they are more engaged in supporting employees who have some care responsibilities at home?
- One of the main problems of business in general is staff turnover. It is very difficult to retain an experienced employee and the costs of finding and training a new employee often exceed 6-9 months of salary and thus the business, by retaining an experienced employee, saves these funds for hiring and training a new employee. Here we must say that employees who are loyal and receive some support in this difficult moment subsequently show higher loyalty and are inclined to make some additional efforts for the company in the future.
The other thing that comes to mind is that an employee can be much more effective when they are allowed to use that..., how should I say ,.... When the employee is physically in the office, his thoughts are with the sick loved one, he does not think so much about the production process and productivity is accordingly minimal. And here flexibility allows him to be more effective when he can actually focus. Companies that support ... also attract much more talented personnel to the labor market.
- Yes, maybe this is really the key to creating better teamwork in companies. When the company, be it a small company, the organization really stands by the employee and helps him balance his responsibilities at home, caring for his loved ones, and working in the company or organization.
Thank you for all these clarifications!
I hope we are useful to both businesses and employees who need to take more care at home.
- Thank you too! It was a pleasure to comment on these important, sensitive issues.
We will continue to talk about the topic of care in the next episodes of the Shared Care podcast. I would like to remind you that the podcast was created by the National Business Development Network under the CAREdiZO project - Care-led innovation for implementing gender equality in the home, micro-enterprises and civil society micro-organizations, funded by the European Union under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program.
The podcast was created by the National Business Development Network under the CAREdiZO Project -CAREdiZO- CARE Driven Innovation for Gender mainstreaming in Home, Micro-Enterprises & Micro-CSOs, , funded by the EU under the "Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values" program.
The CAREdiZO project is implemented in the framework of the European Commission’s CERV Programme, as a cooperation among the following organisations: Challedu (Greece), WHEN (Greece), MOTERU INFORMACIJOS CENTRAS (Lithuania), NATSIONALNA MREZHA ZA BIZNES RAZVITIE (Bulgaria), Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (Cyprus).. The project is funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are, nonetheless, solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission-EU. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission is responsible for them. Project code: 101191047 – CAREdiZO – CERV-2024-GE.