Greece Approves Debated Workplace Legislation Allowing Longer Working Days in Specific Situations

Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week remains in place.

Officials emphasizes that the extended workday is optional, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes align national laws with current employment conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.