Greece Ditches Vacation Perk ... for Using Computers

Yep, civil servants got an extra 6 days a year if they worked in front of one
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 14, 2013 12:29 PM CDT
Greece Ditches Vacation Perk ... for Using Computers
   (Shutterstock)

Back in 1989, Greece decided that any of its public-sector workers who had the misfortune of working in front of a computer all day deserved extra time off for that horror—an extra six days a year, to be precise, on top of their regular vacation time. Over the years, as computers got a wee bit more common, pretty much every civil servant came to enjoy the perk. No more, alas, reports the Wall Street Journal. The cash-strapped government has decided to scrap the so-called computer leave.

"It belongs to another era," says a government official. "Today, in the era of crisis, we cannot maintain anachronistic privileges." The unions vow to fight the matter in court, but the tide seems to be moving against them. Already, workers have lost a bonus they once received just for showing up to work on time, notes Reuters. And unmarried daughters can no longer collect their deceased fathers' pensions. (Click to read about how tough times in Spain led to an unusual divorce ruling.)

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