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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will revamp the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials insists that the longer workday is optional, only applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

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

Official Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, stating the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows EU working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, critics have charged the government of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Context

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

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the European Union.