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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a disputed labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, in the face of fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration asserted the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, critics have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.