AndIn contrast to Europe, where the four-day week is gaining ground, the six-day week, from Monday onwards, could become a reality for many businesses in Greece.
The 48-hour work week will only apply to private companies that provide services 24 hours a day, according to the Guardian.
However, industrial and manufacturing employees will have the option of working an extra two hours a day or an extra eight-hour shift, with an additional 40% payment added to their daily income.
According to the centre-right government, the scheme will solve the problem of unpaid overtime and undeclared work.
Moreover, according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, this measure is necessary to combat the declining population and the shortage of qualified workers.
“The essence of this legislation is in favour of workers; it is deeply growth-oriented. […] “It puts Greece on a par with the rest of Europe,” the official said before the law was approved last year.
But the opposition and trade unions considered the reform to eliminate workers’ rights and end the five-day work week.
“This makes no sense. When almost all other civilized countries decided to have a four-day week, Greece decided to take the opposite path,” pointed out Akis Sotiropoulos, a member of the executive committee of the ADI civil servants union.
The measure was “approved by a government ideologically committed to generating greater returns for capital,” Sotiropoulos added, arguing that “better productivity comes with better working conditions.” [e] “A better quality of life,” ideals that are achieved with “fewer hours, not more.”
It is worth noting that pilot projects of the four-day work week have had positive results, recording a general increase in productivity in several countries. In the case of Portugal, the experiment involved 41 companies, which adopted the four-day week in various forms and implemented several organizational changes.
Among the study’s findings were improvements in operations and performance, with only one company having to hire more workers, according to a statement from the IEFP (Institute for Employment and Vocational Training). In the end, only four companies returned to the five-day work week.
On the workers’ side, the pilot project resulted in reduced fatigue and consumption and improved mental and physical health, with the vast majority wanting to continue.
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