“We were elected to implement an aggressive reform program. And that is what we are doing now. We now have three years without further elections ahead of us, our performance will be assessed in 2027.”
It almost sounds like a threat from the conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. His centre-right party Nea Dimokratia With 28.3 percent of the vote, it easily took first place in the European elections, almost twice as many as the left-wing opposition party Syriza (14.9 percent). However, it remained far below the 33 percent target set by Mitsotakis.
The reason given was the currently largest It rises of the Greeks: the high Cost of living,According to the Bank of Greece, 27 percent of the Greek population spends more than 40 percent of their income on housing costs.
Mitsotakis wants to counteract this – and focuses on employer-friendly measureswhich, however, causes the unions and left-wing politicians to cry out.
Employees must be informed 24 hours in advance
From 1 July Employers may invite their employees to Six-day week This will make Greece the first country in the EU to introduce a 41-hour working week. Previously, this was only possible in the tourism and food industries, but now the arrangement of a sixth working day is permitted for all private and publicly controlled industries (but not civil servants). The employee must have at least 24 hours before For the sixth working day, a Surcharge von 40 percent of the daily wage; 115 percent if the day falls on a public holiday.
Overtime is not possible. The day must be entered into a system that is to be controlled by the state.
This is intended to ensure that “industrial companies with rotating shift work and highly specialised staff do not have to interrupt their processes,” quotes the HE DOES the Greek Ministry of Labour. Furthermore, every employee also has the right to eleven consecutive hours off work per day or night and to 24 hours every seven days.
Up to two jobs
But critics stress that workers are already under a lot of pressure: wages are too low, and many Greeks are forced to work two jobs to cover the cost of living – about eight hours a day in one job and up to five hours a day in the other.
Also that the Right of termination to be relaxed, will tighten working conditions: employers are to be first year can dismiss the employee at any time. Mitsotakis wants to encourage companies to hire more people: The Unemployment rate in Greece is twice as high as the Eurozone average (2023: 10.9 percent). Social security contributions employers should be reduced. A reduction in the VATwhich is often seen by left-wing economists as an effective measure to combat inflation, the Prime Minister vehemently rules out.
Protest by trade unions in September of last year when the law passed parliament.
Many working hours, but little productivity
Economists have long complained about the low labour productivity in Greece – one of the lowest in the EU, while Greek workers already have the longest working hours in Europe compared to the EU. The German Federal Statistical Office According to 2022, an average of 41 hours per week, the European average was 37 hours per week. In Austria The average working hours per week were 35.7. The lowest value was reported for the Netherlands at 31.3 hours per week – due to the high proportion of employed people in part-time employment (43.4 percent).
We need to focus on increasing productivity and automating processes, otherwise the competitiveness of the country is not sustainable. This could also be achieved with a Reduction of working hours cites the HE DOES the head of the German-Greek Chamber of Industry and CommerceAthanassios Kelemis.