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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials claimed the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

The government insists that the longer shift is elective, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the changes bring in line Greek legislation with current employment conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with European Union labor regulations, which cap the mean week to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official base pay 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 the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.