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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite strong resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended shift is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, claiming the changes align Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights 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 receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.