The Greek Parliament Enacts Disputed Labor Law Authorizing Longer Working Days in Certain Situations

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length working days, in the face of widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials insists that the extended shift is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left faction – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.