The relevant labor minister in Greece this week responded to heightened opposition criticism over a coronavirus outbreak-related directive by the government allowing employers in the country to designate up to 50 percent of their workforce as "skeleton crews", essentially halving the number of people working on any given day, and with a commensurate reduction in monthly pay by half.
The relevant labor minister in Greece this week responded to heightened opposition criticism over a coronavirus outbreak-related directive by the government allowing employers in the country to designate up to 50 percent of their workforce as "skeleton crews", essentially halving the number of people working on any given day, and with a commensurate reduction in monthly pay by half.
In a statement to the state-run news agency, Labor and Social Insurance Minister Yannis Vroutsis called the measure temporary, but necessary, part of a bid to safeguard job spots in the face of an economic collapse due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an law, passed as an urgent legislated act by the government outside the parliamentary route, allows for the rotating employment regime for up to six months.
In response, a trio of opposition parties, including main opposition SYRIZA, sharply criticized what they called a "loophole" and opportunity by the conversative government to suspend basic labor rights, using the pandemic as the reason. Criticism by unions was also intense.