Shameful, according to the opposition.
Completely necessary, according to the government.
Greece's decision to extend the working week for certain employees has sparked heated debate in the country.
As of the beginning of July, certain companies operating around the clock can schedule 48-hour weeks for their employees. In such cases, they will receive a 40 percent wage increase during the extra working hours, which can either be planned as a sixth working day or spread out over existing working days.
The Greek right-wing government's decision has also attracted international attention, as it goes against the trend in a situation where other Western countries have recently discussed reducing working hours.
Greece's largest opposition party, Syriza, accuses the government of "shaming the country" in front of the international community.
This is unacceptable. The government must understand that this type of decision has consequences, says Syriza's spokesperson Voula Kehagia in a TV interview on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government describes the extension of working hours as necessary, citing an acute shortage of skilled personnel in certain sectors. The problems stem, among other things, from the deep financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, when many young Greeks were forced to leave the country in search of a brighter future.
The average working week in Greece was already the longest in the EU last year, with 39.8 hours, according to Eurostat. However, productivity was lower than the EU average.
