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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that enables extended-length working days, in the face of fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the changes align national legislation with current labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of July, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.