It means the traditional 40-hour working week could be extended to 48 hours for some companies.
Under the telling headline “Greece introduces six-day working week with ‘growth orientation'”, the UK’s Guardian reports on the implementation of the six-day working week in Greece, which came into force on 1 July, setting the country back 40 years.
In its lengthy article, the Guardian notes that the pro-business Greek government argues that the measures are necessary because of a shrinking population and a shortage of skilled workers.
The Guardian even laments the fact that Greece’s six-day week comes at a time when companies around the world are toying with the idea of introducing shorter working weeks.
An unorthodox move
“But in Greece, workers have been informed that they can now work a sixth day in an unorthodox move aimed at boosting productivity,” the same publication points out, referring to the government’s 48-hour week.
According to the article, which quotes Akis Sotiropoulos, a member of the executive committee of ADED, a civil servants’ union, the measure, which has been described as “barbaric” by the unions, will come into force.
“It makes no sense. When almost every other civilised country is introducing a four-day week, Greece decides to go the other way,” Sotiropoulos said.
“In fact, this has been decided by a government that is ideologically committed to producing ever greater profits for capital,” Sotiropoulos said. “Better productivity comes with better working conditions, better quality of life [for workers] and that, as we now know, is about fewer hours, not more.”
“In a country with almost no tradition of workplace inspections”.
“In a country with almost no tradition of workplace inspections, critics argue that the reform finally sounds the death knell of the five-day week, mainly because it allows employers to dictate whether a sixth day is needed,” it adds.
Indeed, in contrast to the Greek labour reality, the authoritative British media report on successful European examples that have reduced working hours to four days a week:
“Tried and tested four-day workweeks have repeatedly shown increased productivity (…). Belgium introduced legislation in 2022 to give workers the legal right to split their working week into four days instead of five, and pilot schemes have been carried out in countries such as the UK, Germany, Japan, South Africa and Canada.”
Greeks already work the longest hours in Europe
Finally, the paper strongly reiterates the issue of working hours and pay for Greek workers, after noting:
“Greeks already work the longest hours in Europe, averaging 41 hours a week, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat, although surveys have also shown that they are paid much less.”
Workers in Greece work more than those in the US, Japan and other EU-27 member states, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Greek workers are expected to work an average of 1,886 hours in 2022, more than the US average of 1,811 and the EU average of 1,571.
“Greeks already work the most hours per week in Europe. Now they may be forced to work a sixth day after this decision by the Greek [government],” John O’Brennan, an EU law professor at Maynooth University in Ireland, said on Monday via social media platform X.
“It’s ridiculous, it goes against the move to a four-day week in most civilised countries,” he added.
A report published earlier this year by the think tank Autonomy found that most companies that took part in the world’s largest trial of a four-day week have made the policy permanent.
All project managers and CEOs of companies that took part in the trial said the four-day week had a positive effect on their organisation, with more than half describing the impact as ‘very positive’.
However, the report found that employees – in companies where the extra day off was minimally guaranteed or made conditional on meeting targets – had some concerns.
