🔗 Share this article Greece Passes Disputed Workplace Law Authorizing Longer Workdays in Specific Cases Government Building Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that enables extended-length work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide protests. The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law." Key Elements of the New Work Legislation Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek remains in place. Officials insists that the longer workday is elective, solely affects the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year. Parliamentary Backing and Opposition Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained. Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and public services to a stop. Official Defense and Worker Protections A senior official defended the bill, stating the changes bring in line Greek legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens. The laws will give employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime. The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government. Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses But, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties." The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor." Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Background In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth. Recent laws, which started at the start of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40. EU Work Data and Greek Economic Indicators Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8). The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics. As of this year, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations. 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 indicate. The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.