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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows European Union labor rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

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

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

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.