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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with EU working-time rules, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.