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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

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

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the longer workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the changes bring in line national legislation with current labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

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

The measure follows EU labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

But, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

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

New laws, which started at the start of July, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.