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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that enables extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials insists that the longer shift is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the changes align national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average week to 48 hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across 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 shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.