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Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration asserted the measure will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, stating the changes align national laws with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

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

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.