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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the reforms align national laws with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.