Greece’s New Six-Day Workweek Law Takes Effect
As reported by NPR, Greece has enacted a new employment law that lays out a six-day workweek. The country’s parliament passed the law last fall.
The new system allows employers to decide unilaterally whether a worker should come in on a sixth day. The law prohibits employees from working more than eight hours on that additional day and states hourly compensation on that day would include regular wages plus a 40% overtime premium. In addition, the law leaves intact rules that allow the option of a six-day workweek, in which employees work 6.5 hours for 40 hours weekly.
The new law applies to companies that operate around the clock seven days a week and to companies that adopt heavy shift work to cope with an unforeseen increased workload. It does not apply to people employed in hotel and food service industries.
Microsoft Lays Off DEI Team Due to ‘Changing Business Needs’
Business Insider reported that Microsoft has laid off a its corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) team, citing “changing business needs.”
According to an email viewed by the publication, the team was eliminated on July 1. It’s unclear how many employees were affected.
The move counters previous commitments to DEI made by Microsoft and other tech firms following the George Floyd protests in 2020.
Former Whataburger Employee Sues Over Retirement Plan
The Whataburger restaurant chain, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is looking for a way out of a proposed class-action lawsuit over losses in employee retirement plans, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In a complaint first filed in March, former San Antonio employee Manuel Esquivel accused Whataburger of keeping poorly performing funds in employees’ $215 million retirement plan. Esquivel argues the company retained such investments in the retirement plan instead of available alternative investments.
Now, Whataburger is trying to dismiss the former employee’s proposed lawsuit, which takes aim at two mutual funds, which Esquivel alleges trailed their benchmarks.
The employer disagrees, saying the allegations don’t point to “long-term, substantial and consistent underperformance for either of the two challenged funds.”
Intuit to Cut Nearly 10% of Its Workforce
Financial software company Intuit will lay off nearly 1,800 employees as part of a reorganization plan to increase focus on artificial intelligence (AI), according to a GlobalData report.
The layoffs, which represent about 10% of the workforce, are a strategic move to streamline operations and reallocate resources toward AI integration within the company’s products and services.
Intuit plans to reinvest in necessary skills and capabilities, with intentions to hire around 1,800 new employees, primarily in engineering as well as product- and customer-facing roles such as sales, customer success and marketing, by 2025.
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