Greek Parliament approves sixth working day and liberalizes working hours

2023-09-23 04:23:25

The Greek Parliament approved this Friday the new labor law promoted by the conservative Government that allows companies to impose a sixth working day and vary employees’ schedules to adapt them to production needs.

The reform was supported by the 158 deputies, out of a total of 300, that the conservative New Democracy, of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had after the elections last June, while all the opposition parties voted against, from the extreme right to radical left.

During an intervention in Parliament prior to the vote, the Minister of Labor, Adonis Georgiadis, defended his bill and assured that “it neither eliminates the eight-hour day nor the five-day (week).”

The Government argues that the law makes the schedule more flexible to reduce work and undeclared overtime and thus protects workers.

The reform allows workers to voluntarily have a second job, for a maximum of five hours a day, alongside their main activity of eight hours a day.

In addition, it establishes that companies in various sectors can impose a sixth working day by which workers Workers will receive an additional 40% on the daily salary.

Although the reform establishes that this can happen “in exceptional conditions”, both unions and the opposition argue that in practice the law will make six working days per week common, also taking into account the “almost non-existent” inspections. of work.

Likewise, the reform introduces contracts for “on-call employees” who will practically not have a fixed schedule but will work when their employer requires it, as long as they are notified at least 24 hours in advance.