Extra paid leave for non-smoking Bulgarians?

The nationalist conservative party alliance "United Patriots", which is part of the Bulgarian government coalition, wants non-smoking employees to receive two extra days of paid leave in a bid to increase Bulgaria's productivity levels. The national press has difficulties taking this proposal seriously.

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News.bg (BG) /

More paid leave for Facebook abstainers too

Studies show that Bulgarians waste much more working time on social media than on smoking, counters news.bg

“Let's play lawmakers and calculate how many extra days of paid leave employees who do not use social media during their working hours would be entitled to. According to a study published by the KNSB trade union last year, 87 percent of Bulgarians spend an average of 144 minutes on social media during working hours. According to the study, they are most active on social media between 1 and 3 pm. In view of this analysis, which is much more thorough than the MEPs' analysis, we would propose that under the new labour law employees should be able to demand up to five extra days of paid leave if they don't use social media during working hours.”

Trud (BG) /

Smokers not necessarily less productive

Measuring the productivity of workers in relation to the time they spend at work is outmoded, Trud believes:

“Productivity does not depend on whether someone smokes twenty, eight or two cigarettes a day, and even less on how many hours they spend physically present at the work place or how often they go to the restroom. If an employee doesn't do a good job, it's not because he smokes. ... The most productive companies are not at all known for strict rules according to which you have to sit at your workplace for seven hours without a break. It's not the task of politicians to decide which practices are good for private companies and which discriminate against other employees.”