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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a contentious labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with current labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, critics have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Background

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

New legislation, which started at the start of July, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.