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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

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

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the main 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 stop.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, saying the reforms align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean week to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.