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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes extended-length working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which started at the start of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's national minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.