🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, claiming the reforms align national legislation with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure follows European Union labor rules, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

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

New laws, which started at the beginning of July, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed 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, as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.