The Greek Parliament Enacts Debated Workplace Law Permitting Extended Workdays in Specific Circumstances

Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a contentious work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the option to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This complies with EU working-time regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Work Data and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.