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The Greek legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that permits extended-length working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the extended workday is optional, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the average week to 48 hours including extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, critics have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

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 legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.