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Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a contentious labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party 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 stop.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the changes align national legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU labor regulations, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, critics have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Work Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.