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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of strong opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the reforms align national laws with current labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor rules, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, critics have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.