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Government Building

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

The administration stated the law will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

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

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will give employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow employees to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.