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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer shift is elective, only applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

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

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, saying the changes bring in line national laws with modern employment realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU labor rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers currently put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Labor Data and National Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.