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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will update the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the reforms align national legislation with current employment realities, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.