🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the law will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the reforms align national laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused critics of misleading the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean week to 48 hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's national base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.