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The Greek parliament has approved a contentious labor reform that permits extended-length work shifts, in the face of strong opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing 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 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials insists that the longer shift is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, saying the reforms align national legislation with current labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will give employees the option to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU labor rules, which limit the average week to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.