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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, in the face of fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials maintains that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the reforms bring in line Greek laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure follows EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background

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

Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.