🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration asserted the measure will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials maintains that the extended workday is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left party – now the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes align Greek laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which cap the average week to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group 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 European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.