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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the measure will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the longer workday is elective, only applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, stating the changes bring in line Greek laws with current employment realities, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

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

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.