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Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a disputed labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, despite fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the longer shift is elective, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the reforms align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

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 Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of July, permit employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.