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Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a disputed labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, annual overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, only applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate faction – now the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, saying the reforms align national laws with modern employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will give workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This follows European Union labor rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Recent 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 forty.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national base pay stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.