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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the law will revamp the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

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

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate faction – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms bring in line national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with European Union working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor 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 employees currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.