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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the reforms bring in line national laws with current labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.