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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials maintains that the extended shift is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, claiming the changes bring in line Greek legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently work longer hours than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to stimulate the economy.

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

European Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.