The Greek Parliament Approves Disputed Labor Law Permitting Extended Workdays in Certain Circumstances

Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that permits extended-length working days, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration stated the measure will revamp Greek 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 law, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week remains in place.

Officials maintains that the extended shift is voluntary, only applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, saying the reforms align national laws with current employment realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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 excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

New laws, which started at the start of July, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.