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Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration claimed the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, only applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, claiming the reforms align national laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to boost economic growth.

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

European Work Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.