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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a hotly debated labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the measure will update the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended shift is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the reforms align Greek laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

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

This complies with European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees already put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Work Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.