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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, stating the changes bring in line national laws with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average week to 48 hours including overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

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

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.