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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, stating the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.