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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a disputed labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the law will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is voluntary, only applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the bill, stating the changes align national laws with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say local workers already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which started at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.