Additional Coverage:
- Greece institutes 48-hour work week (newsbreak.com)
July 2 — In a controversial move, Greece has become the first among European Union nations to introduce a six-day workweek, a policy pushed by the government to enhance productivity, but which has faced severe backlash from labor unions.
In a recent session of Congress, Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is in favor of the country’s new six-day work policy, addressed the change. This legislation, which took effect this Monday, allows private sector companies that operate 24/7 to offer their employees the choice to work two extra hours daily or an additional eight-hour shift, with a 40% increase in their daily earnings.
However, this change will not apply to employees in the food service and tourism sectors. Prime Minister Mitsotakis has advocated for this revised workweek as beneficial for workers, citing it will ensure they are fairly compensated for overtime and will help in combating unreported employment.
Yet, this move has been criticized as a step backward by some, including Akis Sotiropoulos, an official from the Greek civil servants’ union Adedy, who argues that this goes against the trend of reducing working hours seen in most other European countries.
“The decision is completely illogical,” Sotiropoulos was quoted saying. “At a time when the norm in progressive countries is shifting towards a four-day workweek, Greece is choosing to move in the opposite direction.”
According to data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, Greek workers are already the most overworked in Europe, averaging 41 hours a week.
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- Greece institutes 48-hour work week (newsbreak.com)