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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide protests.

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

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended shift is elective, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, claiming the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the average week to 48 hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Responses

But, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

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

European Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.