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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length work shifts, despite strong resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, claiming the reforms bring in line national laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the option to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure complies with EU working-time rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

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

European Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.