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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

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

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the reforms align national legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees already put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

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

Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official 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 versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.