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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite strong opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will revamp Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials maintains that the extended workday is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate party – now the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

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

The laws will give workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining extra hours.

This follows European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Context

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

Recent legislation, which started at the start of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Work Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.