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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the measure will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the changes align Greek legislation with current employment realities, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, 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 Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.