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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is capped 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 business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes bring in line national laws with current employment realities, and accused critics of misleading the public.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for declining extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean week to 48 hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.