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Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This complies with European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.