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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will modernize Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials maintains that the longer workday is elective, only applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

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

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the changes bring in line national laws with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union labor regulations, which cap the mean week to 48 hours including extra hours but permit flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.