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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a contentious labor reform that enables 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, solely 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 MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes bring in line Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration 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 "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Labor Data and National Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high 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 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 lowest in the European Union.