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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a contentious labor reform that permits 13-hour work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration stated the law will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

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

Officials insists that the extended workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

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

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line national laws with current labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union labor rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

European Labor Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.