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Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes extended-length working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration stated the measure will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, annual overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer shift is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, claiming the changes align national laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused critics of misleading 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 cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU labor regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the government of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.