🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

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.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, claiming the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

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

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

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

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

European Labor Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.