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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour working days, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek remains in place.

The government maintains that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the reforms align Greek legislation with current labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows European Union labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.