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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials claimed the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek remains in place.

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

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the bill, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean week to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.