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Government Building

Greece's legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide protests.

The administration claimed the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the reforms align national laws with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

The measure complies with European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Previous Labor Changes and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.