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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that enables extended-length working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will modernize Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – currently the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

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

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.