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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 widespread resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

The government maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

But, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

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

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.