Parliament will vote on changes to important bills that will affect both working parents and family policy in the country. On the agenda are debates on amendments to the Labor Code and the Family Code.
Parliament will discuss three bills to amend and supplement the Labor Code. The projects envisage new measures to improve the balance between professional and family life of working parents.
The bill submitted by Denitsa Sacheva from GERB proposes expanding the opportunities for flexible working hours and remote work for parents and adoptive parents of children up to 12 years of age.
The bill submitted by Elisaveta Belobradova from PP-DB proposes a new option for using paid annual leave by the hour.
Another bill submitted by Venko Sabrutev and a group of MPs will also be discussed, which proposes the possibility of using paternity leave in parts.
The parliament is also expected to consider an important bill amending the Family Code at second reading. It brings together three legislative initiatives related to parental responsibility after separation or divorce and aims for clearer regulation of parental rights and obligations.
The changes introduce joint parental responsibility, in which both parents are responsible for the upbringing and care of the child, regardless of whether they live together or are separated.
There will also be shared parenting, in which the child is expected to spend a minimum of 127 days a year with each parent, unless this endangers his or her life or health.
Changes will also be introduced to the Criminal Code and the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, including expanding the concept of psychological violence to include the denial of the child's right to contact with the other parent.