🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, despite widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, only applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes bring in line Greek laws with current labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to accept extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.