Labour agreements and working time arrangements set up the fundament of labour
relations. In a number of cases these have fundamental and multi-facet impacts on all other
components of this system.
Within the context of the European flexicurity concept, labour agreements and working
time arrangements are interpreted from the perspective of the labour legislation, work
management and the social dialogue. Their mission is associated with the creation of regulatory
environment aimed at facilitating the changes in the labour status and the development of models
of working hours in order to find more successful balance between the supply and demand of
labour.
This is the context where the national flexicurity pathways are being created as an
instrument for improvement of labour force mobility, for reduction of segmentation on the labour
market and providing support for the better reconciliation of work and family.1
The flexible
forms of employment allow those who demand for labour and those who supply labour to balance
their interests in accordance with the objective factors and their subjective needs. They provide
opportunities for supplementary income to part of community members and may be “buffer”
forms against dropping out from the labour market, i.e. the multifunctionality of the flexible
forms of labour contracts and working time arrangements will explain their significance for the
labour market regulation policy.
The Bulgarian flexicurity path develops the national objectives by laying down a number
of policies used to expand the flexibility of labour contracts and working time arrangements, and
ensuring their security. This is a relatively new ministry of labour and social policy (MLSP)’s
project associated with the management of the labour market. It was approved in 2009 by a
decision of the Council of Ministers. This Bulgarian path is defined as a national agreement for
implementation of the flexicurity principles in accordance with the National Reform Programme
(NRP) and the European policy in the area of the so-called flexicurity. The attention is focused on
four of the flexicurity components, one of which is the contractual arrangements and working
time arrangements