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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

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

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government insists that the longer workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, stating the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with modern employment realities, and alleged critics of misleading the public.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.