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Greece's parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that permits extended-length work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials maintains that the extended shift is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the changes bring in line Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours including extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees already put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, permit employees to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.