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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a hotly debated work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government maintains that the longer shift is optional, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes align Greek laws with current employment realities, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to boost economic growth.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Work Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.