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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration stated the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, only applies to the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with current employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.