The Greek Parliament Approves Disputed Labor Law Permitting Longer Workdays in Specific Circumstances

Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that permits extended-length work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, saying the reforms align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the public.

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

This complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.