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Government Building

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

The administration claimed the law will revamp the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, stating the changes bring in line Greek legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean week to 48 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 weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to boost the economy.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.