July 3rd 2024.
According to work and HR experts, the recent decision made by Greece to introduce a six-day working week has been described as horrifying and barbaric. This move is in stark contrast to the trend of many other countries experimenting with a shorter, four-day work week. Akis Sotiropoulos, a member of the Greek civil servants' union ADEDY, commented on the decision, stating that it seems counterintuitive when most other civilized nations are implementing a four-day work week.
This news is alarming, especially after a successful six-month pilot program in the UK, where 61 companies reduced work hours to 80% while maintaining salaries. Over 2,900 employees participated in the program, and it resulted in 56 businesses extending the four-day week experiment and 18 making it a permanent change. A report released in 2023 even claimed that the benefits to worker wellbeing were extensive. However, despite these positive outcomes, Greece has decided to introduce a law on Monday that allows for a 48-hour working week. This will only apply to private businesses providing round-the-clock services, and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has stated that the decision was made due to a shrinking population and a shortage of skilled workers.
While this change has been met with backlash from unions, it seems that the lessons learned about work-life balance during the pandemic are being forgotten. A study by LinkedIn showed that 49% of companies would prefer their employees to work more from the office, and 10% are even planning to enforce a return to the office due to "productivity paranoia." Molly Johnson-Jones, co-founder and CEO of Flexa, a platform for flexible working roles, believes that companies and countries need to stop obsessing over how often employees are in the office. She argues that the four-day week trial showed that 32-hour weeks can be just as productive as 40-hour weeks and that focusing on the number of days and hours spent at a desk can incentivize the wrong behaviors.
Molly emphasizes that the key to improving employee output, as Greece aims to do with its new laws, is by giving workers autonomy instead of pushing them to work more. She believes that individuals should be able to choose roles that allow for more working days if they desire. This is not the same as companies enforcing strict "return to office" mandates and reversing flexible working policies.
But is it possible that the UK could follow in Greece's footsteps? Fortunately, experts do not believe this is likely. Molly notes that if resistance to "return to office" policies is any indication, most UK workers would reject a six-day work week if the government were to enforce it. Sophie Wardell, a people director and HR expert at Higgs LLP, agrees and adds that our five-day work week has been in place since the 19th century, so there is no immediate concern that the UK will adopt Greece's changes.
However, Sophie does find Greece's move concerning. She believes that time away from work is crucial to reducing burnout and stress, and increasing working hours could have negative effects on employee health and family relationships. It is worth noting that Greeks already work the longest hours in Europe, with an average of 41 hours per week, according to Eurostat. Sophie argues that with a growing focus on employee well-being, increasing working hours may be counterproductive and go against the benefits of remote working, which has been a movement towards human-centric and output-focused thinking in the workplace.
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