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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a disputed work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, despite fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the longer shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, stating the changes bring in line national legislation with current labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misleading the public.

The laws will give workers the option to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This follows EU labor regulations, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

However, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.