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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a contentious labor reform that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite strong opposition and countrywide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, saying the reforms align national laws with current labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the option to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU labor regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.