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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the law will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

Officials maintains that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – now the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the changes align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the average week to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial 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 July, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.