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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration asserted the law will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the extended workday is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees already work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

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 over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

New laws, which started at the beginning of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and National Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.