EIn contrast to Europe, where the four-day week has been gaining ground, the six-day week could, from this Monday, be a reality for many companies in Greece.
The 48-hour working week will only apply to private companies that provide services 24 hours a day, according to The Guardian.
Still, industrial and factory workers will have the option of working two more hours a day or an extra eight-hour shift, for an extra payment of 40% added to their daily income.
According to the center-right government, the scheme will solve the problem of unpaid overtime and undeclared work.
Furthermore, and according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the measure is necessary to combat population decline and the shortage of skilled workers.
“The core of this legislation is pro-worker; it is deeply growth-oriented […] and brings Greece into line with the rest of Europe,” the official said before the law was passed last year.
However, the opposition and trade unions considered that the reform nullifies workers’ rights and dictates the end of the five-day working week.
“It doesn’t make any sense. When almost all other civilized countries are enacting a four-day week, Greece decides to go the other way,” said Akis Sotiropoulos, a member of the executive committee of the civil servants’ union Adedy.
Sotiropoulos added that the measure “was approved by a government ideologically committed to generating ever greater profits for capital,” having argued that “better productivity comes with better working conditions.” [e] better quality of life”, ideals that are achieved with “fewer hours, not more”.
It should be noted that pilot projects involving the four-day working week have achieved positive results, recording a general increase in productivity in several countries. In the case of Portugal, the experiment covered 41 companies, which adopted the four-day week in different formats and implemented several organizational changes.
The study’s conclusions include operational and performance improvements, with only one of the companies having to hire more workers, according to a statement from the IEFP (Institute of Employment and Vocational Training). In the end, only four companies returned to the five-day week.
On the workers’ side, the pilot project resulted in a reduction in exhaustion and burnout and an improvement in mental and physical health, with the vast majority wanting to continue.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2590409/grecia-introduz-semana-laboral-de-6-dias-em-contraciclo-com-a-europa
