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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is voluntary, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the changes bring in line national laws with current labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming 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 will not be fired for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue 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 flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.