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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is also at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

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

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, claiming the changes align Greek legislation with current labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Background

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.