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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, only affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, stating the changes align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor rules, which cap the average week to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

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

European Work Statistics and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.