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Greece's legislature has given the green light a disputed work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, despite fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration asserted the law will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

But, critics have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say local employees already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

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

New laws, which started at the beginning of July, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

EU Work Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.