Government Building
Greece's parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite strong opposition and countrywide protests.
The administration claimed the law will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."
Main Provisions of the New Labor Law
Under the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek remains in place.
The government maintains that the longer workday is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.
Parliamentary Support and Opposition
The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.
Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a stop.
Government Defense and Worker Protections
A senior official supported the bill, saying the changes align national laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.
The laws will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.
This follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.
Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions
But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."
The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."
Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context
In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.
Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.
EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators
- Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
- The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
- Starting this year, the nation's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
- Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office indicate.
- Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.
