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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide protests.

The administration claimed the law will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials insists that the longer shift is voluntary, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – now the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that halted public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes align Greek legislation with current employment realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This follows EU working-time rules, which limit the mean week to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens 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 disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country 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 EU.