Why is Greece introducing a six-day working week?

Greece is adopting a controversial new policy that bucks the trend worldwide of moving towards fewer working days.

While some countries in the world are considering a switch to a four-day working week, Greece is swinging in the opposite direction.

Its government is implementing a new six-day work schedule which falls under an employment law titled Law 5053/2023. The law is voluntary for companies to adopt, and the idea is to kick-start the economy in a country that is still emerging from the wreckage of Europe’s worst financial crisis in decades.

But as several countries and companies globally mull the idea of adopting four-day working weeks to improve employees’ quality of life, why is Greece instead adding an additional day?

Greece’s new law gives employers in some industries, including businesses that offer 24/7 services, the right to compel employees to work a sixth day in return for an additional 40 percent of their daily wage added to their regular daily wage on the extra working day.

So if a worker’s daily wage is $100, and they previously earned $500 in a week, they could now earn an additional $140, taking their weekly earnings up to $640.