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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that enables extended-length working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will revamp the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is elective, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, stating the changes align Greek legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average week to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.