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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a disputed labor reform that permits extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials maintains that the extended workday is optional, only affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, stating the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern employment realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.