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Government Building

Greece's parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite strong opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will update the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, only affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with current employment realities, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure complies with EU labor rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.