site.btaUPDATED Parents of Children Under 12 Entitled to Flexible Working Hours Year-round, Parliament Decides

Parents (or adoptive parents) of children up to the age of 12 will be entitled to flexible working hours throughout the year, following the National Assembly’s final approval of amendments to the Labour Code at second reading.

The initial proposal foresaw this option only during the summer school holidays, but between the first and second readings lawmakers introduced and approved in plenary session on Thursday a provision allowing flexible working arrangements in such cases year-round.

The amendments were introduced by the Parliamentary Labour and Social Policy Committee Chair and GERB-UDF MP Denitsa Sacheva and a group of MPs.

The changes to the Labour Code were supported by 166 MPs from GERB–UDF, Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Vazrazhdane, MRF–New Beginning, BSP–United Left, There Is Such a People, Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, as well as three independent MPs. The MECh parliamentary group voted against the amendments, while three MPs from CC-DB and the Velichie parliamentary group abstained.

Flexible working hours and the option to work from home are increasingly being recognised as ways to achieve a better balance between personal and professional life, Sacheva wrote in a Facebook post, after Parliament approved the amendments. “I believe that politics should respond to people’s real needs, rather than, as has become fashionable, being used for marketing, PR, and display. Parents must have more tools to cope during school holidays, when a child is ill, or in other unforeseen situations. This is why we submitted a proposal to amend the Labour Code, allowing families with children up to the age of 12 to negotiate more flexible working arrangements with their employers. Today, the amendment was adopted at second reading with 166 votes in favour and is likely to start being applied as early as the beginning of 2026,” Sacheva said.

She added that not all professions will be able to benefit from these arrangements. For doctors, healthcare professionals, and teachers, different and profession-specific measures will be needed. “We will continue working in this direction to ensure mechanisms are also put in place for them,” the post said. This is one of the policies that must be pursued further, Sacheva stated, because it is expected to have a positive impact on thousands of families.