Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week

The six-day scheme, officials say, will only apply to private businesses providing round-the-clock services Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

Companies in countries worldwide may be toying with the idea of implementing shorter working weeks, but in Greece employees have been told that, henceforth, they can put in a sixth day of labour in an unorthodox step aimed at turbocharging productivity.

After outpacing other Europeans in terms of economic growth, the nation once at the heart of the continent’s worst financial crisis has bucked the trend again, introducing a 48-hour working week. The measure, decried as “barbaric” by unions, takes effect from Monday.