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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes extended-length work shifts, despite widespread opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

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

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers already put in more time 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 abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of July, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• 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 and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.