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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a disputed labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, despite strong resistance and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

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

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms align national legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU labor rules, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say local employees currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Changes and Financial Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost the economy.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.