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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that enables extended-length working days, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

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

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the changes align national legislation with modern employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

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

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.