- Greece introduces voluntary six-day workweek
- New law aims to boost economy
- Critics fear negative impact on workers
While some countries worldwide are exploring implementing a four-day workweek, Greece is taking the opposite approach.
Its government is introducing a new six-day work week under Law 5053/2023. Businesses are voluntary to implement the rule, which aims to jump-start the economy in a country still recovering from Europe’s worst financial crisis in decades.
But as other governments and organizations worldwide consider adopting four-day work weeks to boost employee quality of life, why is Greece adding an extra day?
What does the new law state?
Greece’s new law allows employers in some industries, particularly those that provide 24-hour services, to compel employees to work a sixth day in exchange for 40% of their daily income added to their usual daily wage for the extra working day.
If a worker’s daily compensation is $100 and they previously made $500 per week, they might earn an additional $140, bringing their total weekly earnings to $640.
The law is not mandatory. If a corporation does adopt it, it must apply equally to all of its employees. Additionally, companies are legally obligated to notify their employees at least 24 hours before any new shift begins, with no additional overtime above the eight hours allowed that day.
Employees can also work a second part-time job for up to 13 hours per day, totaling 65 to 78 working hours per week.
According to the Athens Labour Unions Organization, or EKA, the new regulation excludes Greece’s food and tourism sectors, which were previously allowed to add a sixth working day.
The policy went into force on July 1. It was enacted in September as part of a package of new labor legislation unveiled by Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ right-wing, pro-business government.
Why is the Greek government in favor of longer working hours?
The nucleus of this legislation is worker-friendly, and it is deeply growth-oriented,” Mitsotakis stated before the Greek Parliament approved the measure in September 2023.
The Greek leader stated that the new system was required due to the country’s aging population—which he described as a “ticking time bomb”—and a shortage of skilled professionals. Eurostat data show that more than 500,000 Greeks have left the nation since 2010, when the debt crisis emerged.
That ongoing crisis and the impact of Europe’s migration crisis, which Greece is heavily involved in, has decimated the country’s economy.
According to Elizabeth Gosme, director of COFACE Families Europe, a rights-based alliance of groups, the new policy’s reasoning is solely economic. Its goal is to increase productivity and, as a result, Greece’s GDP.
“From an economic point of view, [the policy] is not completely irrational.”
George Dimitriadis, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) youth general secretary, added that the government’s decision to adopt the controversial new law was motivated by the desire to increase productivity and make Greece more competitive in the global market.
“[The law] emerged when the government sought ways to boost the economy and increase competitiveness.”
According to a statement issued by the country’s Ministry of Labour in June, creating official standards for a six-day workweek helps to eliminate undeclared work. It is intended to boost employees’ income.
Why are detractors opposed to a six-day workweek?
Employee Well-being
Gosme expressed concern that the new approach could be a “disaster” for human well-being.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that overwork hurts one’s mental health and can frequently lead to burnout, she said.
According to Eurostat, Greeks already work more hours than most Europeans.
Unions have been among the most vociferous detractors of the new policy, with thousands of Greek public sector workers, including teachers, doctors, and transportation workers, marching in Athens on September 21, 2023, one day before the bill was ratified.
Trains and buses ran on restricted schedules, state hospitals had emergency personnel, and many schools were shuttered that day as demonstrators marched to Parliament.
The GSEE stated that the law will deteriorate working conditions, raise professional burnout, and degrade workers’ quality of life.
Dimitriadis described this strategy as backward and incompatible with modern trends that promote work-life balance and worker well-being.
Economic impact.
While advocates claim that a six-day work week will boost productivity, the GSEE is afraid that the long-term repercussions will be detrimental, resulting in increased healthcare expenditures and decreased output owing to burnout, he noted.
Effect on Women
Furthermore, Gosme believes the bill will disproportionately affect women, who continue to bear the duty of childcare in a predominantly traditional culture.
“Where do people, particularly women, find time for a caring role?” she inquired, noting that caregivers frequently require more flexible work hours.
Most people worldwide lack access to professional care services, so she stated that families must step up, and some people, primarily women, “may even be forced to stop working entirely.”
According to Gosme, the new law will impact workers’ well-being and gender equality.
Lack of consultation
The main opposition, the left-wing Syriza party, has charged the government with advancing “a secret agenda” against workers. At the same time, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) has dubbed the measure “monstrous.”
Workers’ rights activists advocate for further government interaction on this subject.
The GSEE thinks that an open discussion between the government, employers, and workers is critical to developing solutions that encourage economic growth while protecting workers’ rights and well-being,” Dimitriadis stated. “They advocate alternative policies that boost production through technological advancements and worker training rather than increasing working hours.
Which countries are testing four-day work weeks?
While Greece is pushing for a longer working week, the tendency worldwide has been to adopt a shorter, four-day rota.
Belgium passed legislation in 2022 that allows workers to work four days per week rather than five. In April this year, Singapore announced that workers could seek shorter work weeks and more flexible hours.
Additionally, pilot programs have been tested in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Spain, Ireland, and Iceland.
In the United Kingdom, 54 of the 61 enterprises that trialed a four-day work week have continued, and 31 have stated that the move will be permanent.
Gosme noted that the COVID-19 pandemic taught many people worldwide the value of work-life balance, mainly as people lost their jobs or were compelled to work from home for the first time.
Many four-day workweek trials began shortly after the pandemic, and shorter work weeks were considered necessary to strike this balance.
What do experts say about the benefits of a four-day workweek?
In 2022, one of the world’s most extensive trials of shorter work schedules found that workers who worked four days were equally as productive as those who worked five days a week.
4 Day Week Global, the charity that conducted the trial with 33 companies and over 900 employees in the United States and Ireland, described it as a “resounding success on virtually every dimension.”
Last year, the nonprofit’s four-day trial in the United Kingdom resulted in a 71% decrease in staff burnout and a 35% average boost in income.
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The organization’s test programs also yielded significant outcomes in non-Western nations, such as South Africa and Brazil, where revenue and employee well-being increased.
Furthermore, the World Economic Forum has organized several panels, including reform proponents. During the annual meeting in Davos last year, Sander van ‘t Noordende, CEO of human resources consultancy firm Randstad, stated that the four-day workweek was “a business imperative.
Are any other countries considering a six-day workweek?
Meanwhile, Six-day work weeks have been prevalent in many Chinese enterprises, where some employees follow the “996” habit of working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. Workers have died as a result of weariness from the practice, which is prohibited in the country despite being relatively common, according to media sources.
According to Fortune, certain companies in the United States are migrating to six-day work weeks by 2025. In April this year, Samsung’s electronics corporation instituted a new, longer-week schedule for its South Korean executives.
