As the World Considers the 4-Day Week, Greece Imposes a 6-Day Week

Thanks to a struggling Greek economy, from the July 1st, employers will be able to ask workers in specific industries to add an extra day’s labor each week.

The move flies in the face of the current trend for the 4-day workweek, which has continued to grow at a huge pace, with many companies (outside of Greece) adopting the practice.

While other countries have considered the 6-day workweek in the past, including Russia, Greece is one of the few to actually go ahead with it in recent years.

Greece Introduces the 6-Day Workweek

At the start of July, Greek workers may find that their working week has been extended by an extra day, as Greece, struggling to tackle its economy woes, permits bosses to ask employees work longer under new labor laws.

It’s a tough break for the long suffering Greek workforce, who already work the longest amount of hours in Europe, recording an average of 39.8 hours weeek, ahead of Romania and Poland. For contrast, the Netherlands boasts the shortest European workweek, at just 32.2 hours.

The move impacts some industries more than others. Those in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors are expected to be the worst impacted.

Those who are expected to work a sixth day will receive a supplement of 40% of their daily wage.

The Rise of the 6-Day Week?

The introduction of the six day week in Greece is unfortunate, but should be considered an outlier. With many other counties across the globe considering the idea of the 4-day workweek, spurred on by efficiency and the rise of AI elevating workloads, it’s unlikely many other countries will follow suit.

There is one other country that recently looked to introduce a 6-day workweek, however. Last year we reported that a leading business group in Russia had proposed extending the work week, in order to boost the nation’s economy.

However, in June last year, this proposal was vetoed by the labor minister, Anton Kotyakov, who also stated that those who do decide to work overtime should be properly compensated.

4-Day Workweek Continues to Gain Popularity

The 4-day workweek has become a real hot button issue for both employers and employees in the post-pandemic workplace, and there have been numerous trials, nearly all with positive results.

A 2022 trial found that 67% of employees reported less burnout during the 32 hour week experiment, and a huge 97% wanted to continue with the 4-day week after the trial had run its course.

Recently, in a Bank of America survey, 64% of respondents named a 4-day workweek as the perk they most wanted from a job, beating out having a ‘better work/life balance.’

There’s no doubt that the 4-day workweek is only going to gain momentum, with many companies already adopting the practice, and more following suit.

If your boss doesn’t currently offer a 4-day workweek, check out our guide to making your pitch to work one day less.