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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

The government insists that the longer workday is elective, only affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

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

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the reforms align national laws with modern employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

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

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.