Some countries are cutting down their workweeks. Greece is doing the exact opposite.

The reform, which was passed in September, applies to workers in selected private industries, including retail, agriculture, and some service sectors. It also applies to businesses that provide round-the-clock services.

Workers will be paid 40% more for the extra hours worked.

Employees can be asked to split their work in various ways: working two additional hours a day or working a maximum of eight hours on a sixth day of the week. They will also be allowed to voluntarily have a second job with another employer of five hours a day, alongside their full–time job of eight hours.

Employers who follow the new structure are required to inform their workers of additional hours at least 24 hours before.

Change could ‘kill’ the traditional workweek

The new rules were met with backlash from trade unions and opposition groups.

One day before the bill was passed in the fall, thousands of public-sector workers, including teachers, doctors and transportation staff, marched to protest the reform.

While adopting the change is voluntary, opponents say the new bill will make six-day workweeks the norm because Greece has a poor history of conducting labor inspections.

The new law “will kill off the five-day work week for good,” Aris Kazakos, a labor law professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told German media outlet DW last week. The employer has the authority to require staff to work a sixth day in the week and staff cannot refuse to work, he said.

Kazakos also said he worried about the bill increasing safety risks for staff in industrial sectors. In 2023, 179 workers were killed in accidents at work in Greece, up from 104 the year before, DW reported.

Greeks work more than any of their European counterparts, even before the new bill. Per the OECD, they work an average of 36 hours a week, while workers in France, Netherlands, and Germany work less than 30 hours. US employees work about 35 hours a week on average.

Greece’s reform is a stark contrast to initiatives other countries are taking to reduce the number of working days.

In April, Singapore announced that employees in the country will soon be able to request shorter workweeks and flexible hours. Iceland, Ireland, UK, and Spain have all experimented with four-day workweeks. Out of 61 UK companies that took part in the six-month trial in 2022, 54 have continued with the shortened week, with 31 of them saying they would do so permanently.