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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, in the face of widespread opposition and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will revamp Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

The government maintains that the longer workday is optional, only affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens 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 destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.