According to the government's plans, the General Secretariat for Labour Relations has issued a note that continues the implementation of the Digital Labour Card measure.

As the Ministry of Labour and Social Security said in a statement, workers in the industrial and retail sectors were included in the Digital Labour Card measure from 1 January 2024, and, from 1 July 2024, the measure will be fully implemented for these sectors.

Gradually, the implementation of the measure is being extended to all businesses in the country.

The information circular provides answers to various questions in relation to the implementation of the Digital Labor Card.

The measure is already being successfully applied to workers employed in banks, large supermarkets, insurance companies, security companies and public utilities.

The implementation of the Digital Labour Card aims to fully safeguard the rights of employees, while the "ERGANI II" Information System will allow for the registration of any changes in working hours and overtime.

At the same time, the possibility of declaring and implementing six-day working hours has been activated for enterprises that, by their nature, are continuously operating and for those which already operate on a 24-hour basis for 5 or 6 days a week.

Articles 25 and 26 of Law 5053/2023 introduced the possibility of six days of work in an effort to combat the undeclared and under-declared work phenomena as well as to boost employee income because their daily wage for the sixth day will increase by 40%.

In the event that the 6th day coincides with a Sunday or public holiday, the worker is entitled to have his/her daily wage increased by 115% (40% of the 6th day's increment plus 75% for working on Sunday/long holiday), an increment that can potentially exceed 115% in the case of working at night, for which an additional 25% increment applies.

The possibility of six days of work is exclusive.

enterprises, which are continuous in nature, operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on a shift system, and apply a five-day working week for their employees.

non-continuous enterprises which operate 5 or 6 days a week on a 24-hour basis with alternating shifts and apply a five-day working week for their employees in the event of an increased workload, subject to the obligation to declare this in the ERGANI system.

In this case, employment may not exceed 8 hours per day while fully maintaining the limits of protection for workers concerning the 11-hour compulsory daily rest period, the compulsory 24-hour weekly rest period (1 day off) and the maintenance of an average weekly working time of 48 hours, including overtime, over a reference period of four months.

Finally, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security clarifies that the introduction of the specific provisions does not in any way imply the abolition of the five-day working system established and applied in each undertaking.