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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a contentious work legislation that enables extended-length working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the longer shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

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

Government Defense and Employee Protections

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

The laws will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with EU working-time rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives 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 local workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which started at the start of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Work Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.