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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, solely affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the reforms align national legislation with current labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will give employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

This follows EU labor regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees already put in more time than most EU citizens 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 disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.