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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, despite strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

The government maintains that the extended workday is voluntary, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, stating the reforms align Greek laws with modern labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the option to accept extra work with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union labor rules, which limit the mean week to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

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

European Work Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.