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Government Building

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

The administration stated the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the reforms align national laws with current labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Background

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

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.