While some countries around the world are considering switching to a four-day work week, Greece is going in the opposite direction.
His government is implementing a new six-day work schedule, which falls under a labor law titled Law 5053/2023. The law is voluntary for companies and is intended to revive the economy in a country still emerging from the rubble of Europe's worst financial crisis in decades.
But while several countries and companies around the world are considering adopting four-day workweeks to improve the quality of life of their employees, why is Greece adding an extra day?
What does the new law say?
Greece's new law gives employers in some industries, including companies offering 24/7 services, the right to require employees to work a sixth day in exchange for an additional 40 percent of their daily wage added to their regular daily wage on the additional work day.
So, if a worker's daily wage is $100, and he previously earned $500 in a week, he could now earn an additional $140, which would raise his weekly earnings to $640.
The law is not mandatory, but if a company adopts it, it must be applied uniformly to all its employees. In addition, employers are required by law to inform their employees at least 24 hours before the start of any new shift, with no overtime allowed beyond the eight hours allowed on that day.
Employees will also be allowed to have a second part-time job and work up to 13 hours per day in total, allowing them to work between 65 and 78 hours per week.
Greece's food and tourism sectors are not included in the new law, as they had previously been allowed to add a sixth working day, according to the Athens Workers' Trade Union Organisation, or EKA.
The policy came into effect on July 1. It was approved last September as part of a series of new labour laws announced by the right-wing, pro-business government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Why is the Greek government in favour of longer working hours?
“The core of this legislation is pro-worker and deeply growth-oriented,” Mitsotakis said before the Greek parliament approved the law in September 2023.
The Greek leader said the country's ageing population – a problem he described as a “ticking time bomb” – and a shortage of skilled workers had made the new plan necessary. More than 500,000 Greeks have left the country since 2010, when the country's debt crisis erupted, according to Eurostat data.
This ongoing crisis, coupled with the effects of the European migration crisis – in which Greece is deeply mired – has paralyzed the country's economy.
The logic of the new policy is purely economic, as the aim is to increase productivity and therefore Greece's gross domestic product (GDP), said Elizabeth Gosme, director of COFACE Families Europe, an alliance of rights-based organisations.
“From an economic point of view, [the policy] “It’s not completely irrational,” Gosme told Al Jazeera.
George Dimitriadis, secretary general of the youth wing of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), added that increasing productivity and making Greece more competitive in the global market are the main reasons why the government has gone against the global trend towards four-day weeks to adopt the controversial new law.
“[The law] “It emerged during a period when the government was looking for ways to boost the economy and increase competitiveness,” he told Al Jazeera.
The government has also said that establishing formal rules on a six-day workweek helps to eradicate undeclared work and is aimed at increasing employees' incomes, according to a statement from the country's Ministry of Labor in June.
Why do critics oppose the six-day week?
Employee wellbeing
Gosme warned that from a human welfare perspective, the new plan could spell “disaster.”
Numerous studies have shown that overwork has a detrimental impact on mental health and can often lead to burnout, he said.
According to Eurostat, Greeks already work longer hours than most Europeans.
Trade unions have been among the staunchest critics of the new policy: thousands of Greek public sector workers, including teachers, doctors and transport staff, marched in Athens on 21 September 2023, the day before the law was passed.
Trains and buses ran on reduced services, state hospitals were staffed by emergency personnel and many schools were closed for the day as protesters marched on parliament.
GSEE said the law would lead to a deterioration in working conditions, increase burnout and reduce workers' quality of life.
“This approach is regressive and does not align with modern trends that promote work-life balance and improved employee well-being,” Dimitriadis said.
Economic impact
“While proponents argue that a six-day workweek will increase productivity, GSEE is concerned that the long-term consequences will be negative, leading to higher health care costs and lower productivity due to burnout,” it added.
Effect on women
The law will also disproportionately affect women, who still shoulder the burden of childcare in a country that is largely traditional, Gosme said.
“Where do people – especially women – find time to perform a caregiving role?” she asked, adding that caregivers often need more flexible working hours.
Without access to professional care services – the situation for most people around the world, she said – families are left to step up, and some people, mostly women, “may even be forced to stop working altogether.”
The new law, therefore, not only affects the well-being of workers, but will also affect women's equality, Gosme said.
Lack of consultation
Lawmakers from the main opposition party, the leftist Syriza, have said the government is pushing “a secret agenda” against workers, while Greece’s Communist Party (KKE) has called the bill “monstrous”.
Workers' rights advocates are calling for greater dialogue with the government on this issue.
“GSEE believes that an open dialogue between government, employers and workers is essential to finding solutions that promote economic growth without sacrificing workers’ rights and well-being,” Dimitriadis said. “They propose alternative policies that improve productivity through technological upgrades and worker training, rather than through increased working hours.”
Which countries are testing four-day workweeks?
While Greece is moving toward a longer work week, the trend elsewhere has been to adopt a shorter, four-day schedule.
In 2022, Belgium passed a law allowing workers to condense their working hours into four days instead of five. In April this year, Singapore said workers could request shorter work weeks and more flexible schedules.
In addition, pilot programs have been tested in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Spain, Ireland and Iceland.
In the UK, of the 61 companies that trialled a four-day workweek, 54 continued and 31 said they would make the measure permanent.
Gosme explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world realized the importance of work-life balance, especially when people lost their jobs or were forced to work from home, some for the first time.
Many of the trials of four-day workweeks began shortly after the pandemic, and shorter workweeks were seen as an essential component of moving toward achieving that balance.
What do experts say about the benefits of the four-day week?
In 2022, one of the world’s largest trials of shorter working hours showed that workers who worked four days a week were just as productive as those who worked a five-day week.
4 Day Week Global, the nonprofit that conducted the trial with 33 companies and more than 900 employees in the United States and Ireland, called it “a resounding success across virtually every dimension.”
Meanwhile, the nonprofit's four-day trial in the U.K. last year saw a 71 percent decrease in employee burnout and an average 35 percent increase in revenue.
The organization's pilot projects also showed positive results in non-Western economies, including South Africa and Brazil, where increases in both income and employee well-being were observed.
The World Economic Forum has also hosted multiple panels with reform advocates. During its annual meeting in Davos last year, Sander van 't Noordende, chief executive of human resources consultancy Randstad, said the four-day workweek was “a business imperative.”
Are there other countries considering implementing a six-day week?
Meanwhile, six-day workweeks have long been common at many Chinese companies, with some employees working under the so-called “996” practice: working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. Some workers have died as a result of exhaustion caused by the practice, which is illegal in the country despite being relatively widespread, according to media reports.
Some US companies are also transitioning to six-day workweeks by 2025, US business magazine Fortune reported. And tech conglomerate Samsung implemented a new longer week schedule for its executives in South Korea in April this year.
