🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern employment realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU labor rules, which cap the average week to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

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

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Work Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• 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.