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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of strong opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week stays unchanged.

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

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give employees the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with EU working-time rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest 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), according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.