Greeks do not "recognize" days off - 1/3 of employees work seven days a week
Greeks are the champions of weekend work in Europe. Eurostat data shows that one in three Greek employees (32.3%) works seven days a week, either because their profession requires it or because they need to fulfill their obligations.
Furthermore, the employment structure in Greece, particularly the high percentage of self-employed people, the country's economic dependence on tourism and consequently work in the food service and tourism sectors with shifts on weekends and holidays, partly explains this situation. Informal, flexible and non-scheduled employment also plays an important role.
In practice, long hours, in addition to circumventing legislation, result in the fatigue of citizens without any financial benefit, as salaries remain low, with the average salary reaching 1,342 euros gross.
According to official Eurostat data, Greece ranks first in the EU in terms of weekend employment and almost 10 points higher than the European average (22.4%).
Below Greece, also with high rates, are Italy (30.9%) and Cyprus (26.4%).
Across the European Union, according to Eurostat, weekend work is most common in occupations related to agriculture, forestry and fishing (49.5%). This is followed by employees in services and sales (48.9%), which includes the tourism, hotel and retail trade sectors.
Regarding the nature of employment, almost half of the self-employed (46.7%) declare that they work on Saturday or Sunday.
Greece has one of the highest rates of self-employment in the EU, with many shopkeepers, freelancers and farmers often working weekends, as they do not have fixed hours and are directly dependent on their personal presence for the survival of the business. In 2022, 27.3% of employees in Greece were self-employed, one of the highest in the EU, with the European average at 13.2%.
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