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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that permits 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials stated the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the extended shift is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, claiming the reforms align national legislation with current employment realities, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Context

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

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Work Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.