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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length working days, in the face of strong opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended shift is voluntary, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, claiming the changes align national laws with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

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

New legislation, which started at the beginning of July, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Work Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.