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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite fierce opposition and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek laws with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide employees the option to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say local workers already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.