The Greek government has defended its new six-day working week policy, saying it is an “exceptional measure” that would only be applied in “specific circumstances.”
Greece introduced in early July new regulation that gives employees in some businesses the option of working an extra two hours each day, or adding another eight-hour shift to their schedule — meaning they could work 48 instead of the traditional 40 hours a week. The policy does not cover food services and tourism businesses.
Outrage about the policy spread on social media as the regulation was met with backlash from labor unions and political observers criticizing the move. When the policy package containing the bill was first announced last September, thousands protested against the new policies.
I didn’t understand at all what this story is about. I read the story, though, and here is my best guess: Greek law says nobody can work more than 5 days/week and 40 hours/week. I am guessing that is to ensure companies hire enough people to do the work instead of relying on overtime (e.g. a company has 1640 hours of work in a week, so they can either hire 40 people who work 41 hours, 1 of which is paid, or 41 people who work 40 hours, which requires benefits/overhead for 1 more person on top of just hourly wage). That spreads out the hiring and gets more people employed. The issue they are seeing is unpaid overtime at places that are open 24 hours and 7 days a week when there are surges. This law allows exceptions in certain circumstances and requires that overtime work to be paid. The concern is that companies will always say there are exceptional circumstances and rely on overtime, meaning fewer jobs will be created.