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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

The government emphasizes that the extended workday is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

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

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the reforms align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to 48 hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

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

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.