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Greece's legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes extended-length working days, in the face of widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the law will update the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is elective, only applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the changes align Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows EU labor regulations, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

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

New laws, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, 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, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.