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Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government insists that the extended shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the reforms align Greek legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.