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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the law will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

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

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining extra hours.

This complies with EU labor rules, which limit the average week to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

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

European Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.