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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the measure will update the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government insists that the longer shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, stating the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.