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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the law will update the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, stating the reforms align national laws with modern employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will give workers the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

But, critics have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.