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Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a disputed labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, despite strong opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials maintains that the extended workday is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the changes bring in line Greek laws with modern labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the average week to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of July, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.