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Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials maintains that the extended shift is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the reforms align national legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will give workers the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

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

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.