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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a contentious labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will update the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended workday is elective, only applies to the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

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

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, claiming the reforms align national legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which limit the average week to 48 hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

But, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Labor Data and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.