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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, stating the reforms bring in line national laws with current employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.