Greece Enacts Debated Workplace Law Allowing Longer Workdays in Certain Circumstances

Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the moderate party – currently the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, stating the reforms align national laws with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows European Union labor rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation 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 "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.