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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide protests.

The administration stated the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the extended workday is elective, only affects the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misleading the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently work longer hours 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 family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

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

New laws, which started at the start of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's national base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.