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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the measure will modernize Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the extended workday is elective, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – now the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the reforms align national legislation with current employment realities, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU labor rules, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.