Six-day work: How it will work from 1 July – What it means for workers compared to the current regime

Thousands of workers are entering the six-day work regime from July 1, 2024. The information system ERGANI will define the application for the six-day work for Public, DEKO, banks and private sector, the six-day work for enterprises, organizations and holdings continuous operation that apply a five-day system weekly work.

Employees will be paid extra for the sixth day with 40% of the daily wage and 115% if it is a holiday. The implementation of the six-day work from July 1 will be combined with the digital card in industry and retail. Tests are already being carried out in the ERGANI II system.

Article 25 of 5053/2023 defines the start of six-day work for those who work five days. Thus, it now becomes permissible to work on the sixth day of the week under the following terms and conditions:

• First of all, it is mandatory to show it in the ERGANI II information system in every case. That is, declaration and proof before the Labor Inspectorate of the sudden and exceptional workload for non-continuous operations.
• Secondly, there is no possibility of exceeding 8 hours per day, with a ban on overtime and overtime.
• Third, the daily wage for the sixth day of employment will be increased by 40%.

Difference of the six-day work with the current regime

The main difference with the current regime is that companies will now have the option of a six-day employment contract and not a “five-day employment contract with the addition of the sixth day”. Up to today six-day employment is mainly provided for in sectoral contracts, such as in the food and tourism sectors.

Indeed in these cases it is provided that if employees in the food industry work on their days of rest, they receive additional remuneration and specifically compensation equal to one day’s salary for each day of rest they worked, which will be paid increased by 75% if the employment on a day of rest takes place on a Sunday or on a day established by labor law holiday.

According to the 14.02.1984 EGSSE, the weekly duration of work is 40 hours (contractual weekly hours), while in parallel with the EGSSE the five-day work system was established, in which the working time of the sixth day is distributed over five days (5 x 8 = 40 hours per week), but without abolish the six-day work system.

The full contractual working hours of 40 hours and the possibility of dividing the working hours into five or six days of the week were also recorded and confirmed by article 55 of Law 4808/2021.

Source: Premium edition TA NEA