site.btaMarch 13, 1973: Decree Is Adopted to Reduce Working Week in Bulgaria to Five from Six Days

On March 13, 1973, Bulgaria started transitioning from a six-day to a five-day work week. The Council of Ministers and Central Council of Bulgarian Trade Unions issued a decree introducing reduced working hours and five-day working week during Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-1975). 

The move was part of broader labor and social reforms aimed at improving workers' conditions and aligning Bulgaria with labor policies in other socialist countries. The transition was gradual and completed by 1974. The reduction in working hours was seen as a way to boost productivity while improving the well-being of workers. It reflected broader trends within the Eastern Bloc, where governments were attempting to balance economic output with social welfare.

This decree was also aligned with the broader objectives of the Sixth Five-Year Plan, which focused on modernizing industries, improving efficiency, and enhancing living standards. The move to a five-day workweek was considered a major step toward improving the quality of life for Bulgarian workers.

Here is a quote from a BTA story on the 1973 decree:

"The Council of Ministers and the Central Council of the Bulgarian Trade Unions express full confidence that the working people will further expand the nationwide socialist competition to fully reveal and utilize reserves, to promote and widely implement leading practices and national initiatives, to further increase the public labor productivity, to fulfill and exceed the state and counterplans for 1973 and the Sixth Five-Year Plan, and to build the developed socialist society in the People's Republic of Bulgaria."