As the remainder of the world zigs towards a four-day workweek, Greece is opting to zag.
On Monday, a legislation got here into impact that enables some firms to implement a six-day workweek, a shift that’s supposed to prop up the nation’s getting old work power, compensate strapped employees and maintain agency to the Greek lifestyle.
The legislation applies to non-public sector employees in sure industrial and manufacturing sectors, or to those that work in a enterprise that operates steady shifts 24 hours a day, seven days every week, with some exceptions. And it could be allowed solely “in distinctive circumstances,” like an unexpectedly elevated workload.
Labor unions, which have lengthy pushed for higher working circumstances and rights, have opposed the transfer. It has prompted a fierce debate and, when the invoice was accepted final yr, protests. Greece already has the longest common workweek within the European Union, and it isn’t clear whether or not the prolonged workweek will bolster productiveness.
The motion in Greece stands in sharp distinction to a lot of the world. Senator Bernie Sanders, impartial of Vermont, in March pushed to cut back the usual workweek in america to 32 hours from 40 hours. Trials have been carried out in Britain, Iceland and New Zealand, a minimum of partly as a response to the drastic shifts in work that have been precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Right here’s what to find out about Greece’s extra time measure.
Why do some suppose a six-day mannequin might assist?
Greece is coping with a scarcity of expert labor, as are its friends within the European Union.
Conservative lawmakers within the nation have billed the legislation as a method to offer extra sources for employers, whereas offering further revenue for employees.
The additional day, stated Niki Kerameus, the labor and social insurance coverage minister, will permit employers to deal with “pressing operational calls for” that can not be met given the present provide of employees, and also will put extra money within the pockets of workers.
Based on the legislation, employees get an additional 40 p.c on their sixth day. This rises to 115 p.c if that day falls on a Sunday or a public vacation. Some employees are already working greater than 40 hours per week with out getting paid for the additional time, and backers of the brand new measure say it affords them protections as a result of employers must declare additional hours to the federal government.
The labor scarcity has its roots partly in the monetary disaster that started in 2009. Large numbers of employees, most of them younger Greeks, went overseas in quest of higher prospects, and a few firms reduce on coaching and growth, including to the issue.
The growth that got here after supplied welcome monetary reduction, however it additionally left employers quick handed because the economic system rebounded. Greece has struggled to cope with an enormous inflow of migrants in recent times, however it’s now providing some extra established migrants residency and work permits, in addition to signing offers with different nations to herald extra employees for sure sectors like agriculture.
How have critics responded?
The Greek authorities has sought to downplay the implications of the transfer, stressing that it was an “an distinctive measure” that “doesn’t have an effect on in any method the established five-day working week,” Ms. Kerameus stated.
However many, particularly on the left, are livid.
Syriza, the leftist opposition get together, denounced what it known as “a return to working circumstances of the nineteenth century that places the nation to disgrace.”
Nikos Fotopoulos, the final secretary of Greece’s personal sector labor union, excoriated the measure in an open letter to Ms. Kerameus, the labor minister, calling the federal government “essentially the most barbaric, most anti-worker authorities ever.”
Almost one in 5 Greek adults have been susceptible to poverty final yr, in response to the analysis institute of Greece’s personal sector employees’ union, and Mr. Fotopoulos stated the federal government’s argument that employees can forgo the additional day didn’t maintain up.
“Which employee, with the unemployment and poverty we have now, would dare to say no to unchecked employers who you’ve allowed to deal with employees like their slaves?” Mr. Fotopoulos wrote.
What’s the case for a four-day workweek?
Supporters of a four-day workweek say it might have important advantages for employers and workers.
The logic? Fewer hours on the workplace ought to imply that the time there needs to be extra productive. Employees, in response to the idea, can have extra power and incentive to energy by means of the three p.m. to five p.m. need-a-snack lull, or different durations when fatigue units in and their minds start to float.
“When individuals work much less, they have a tendency to work smarter,” stated Dale Whelehan, the chief govt of 4 Day Week World, a nonprofit group. “In consequence, they minimize out unproductive time inside their work and are capable of get extra achieved in much less time.”
The proof continues to be rising, however a British trial run — performed by Dr. Whelehan’s group — appeared to have favorable outcomes. In a survey about midway by means of the examine, which occurred in 2022, a lot of the firms reported no lack of productiveness through the trial.
How does the productiveness argument play out in Greece?
Greece had the longest common workweek within the European Union final yr. Working-age individuals spent a mean of 39.8 hours at their jobs, in contrast with the bloc’s common of 36.1 hours.
So whereas Greece is trying to prolong the workweek in sure circumstances, backers of the four-day workweek like to emphasise that much less can typically be extra with regards to productiveness.
And Greece’s productiveness has lengthy been decrease than the European Union’s common. Information from Eurostat, the bloc’s statistics company, reveals that Greek productiveness per working hour was 30 p.c decrease than the bloc’s common final yr.
“It affords an incentive to employees who wish to increase their wage — whereas additionally rising truthful play by employers,” stated Emmanouil Savoidakis, a lawyer based mostly in Athens, who stated a few of his shoppers in manufacturing have already expressed curiosity. “Anybody who needs to spice up manufacturing has to do it topic to sure guidelines and pay the extra time.”
