“In some European countries, the four-day week is the magic phrase for a working world intended to bring more balance between leisure and work as well as higher productivity .Greece, however, followed a different approach and switched from five days to six days work from July 1”.
With these words begins the article in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, under the title “Greece establishes the six-day work”, which describes the new conditions that will apply in about two weeks.
Six days work
Employees who also work on the 6th day will receive an increase of 40% of their daily salary and 115% if the 6th day of work is a holiday.
According to Article 25 of Law 5053/23, the start of 6 days of work for those who work on a 5-day basis will begin in March 2024, when industrial enterprises will join the digital card system. However, their participation schedule has been extended to July, where the 6-day work system will also begin.
According to FAZ the “country is rolling up its sleeves to make companies better able to deal with the labor shortage” adding that Greeks already work longer than people in many other countries.
The publication says the goal is to combat black labor and deal with labor shortages. And it hosted the statements of the general manager of the Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Athanasios Kelemis, who emphasized that the employers’ associations were satisfied. Mr. Kelemis added that industries such as the pharmaceutical industry, chemicals and tourism, with high seasonal activity or large orders without sufficient manpower, are also “very happy with this arrangement”
The German newspaper also writes that trade unions and left-wing parties have expressed their opposition, citing the “exploitative conditions” faced by low-skilled workers in the tourism industry, but also the “burn hazard” .
FAZ explains that “wages are low in Greece. So not a few are forced to take a second job, especially during high inflation. Greeks suffer more from inflation because there is more lack of competition between supermarket chains and the products offered are expensive.”
Ahtsioglou’s statements
Efi Ahtsioglou also spoke at FAZ, talking about “a great failure of the social policy”: “This policy is not only socially unjustified, but also economically ineffective. Labor productivity in Greece is one of lowest in the entire EU, while Greek workers simultaneously have the most working hours in Europe,” argued Ahtsioglou.