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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that authorizes extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government maintains that the extended workday is voluntary, only applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

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

These regulations will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of July, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.