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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread opposition and countrywide protests.

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

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to boost economic growth.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to forty.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.