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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the law will update Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the extended workday is elective, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the changes bring in line Greek legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will give employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

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

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Labor Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.