🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government insists that the extended shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, claiming the changes align Greek laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will provide employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, critics have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.