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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the law will revamp the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say 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 said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

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

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.