The Greek Parliament Enacts Debated Labor Law Authorizing Extended Workdays in Specific Situations

Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government insists that the longer workday is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, claiming the reforms align Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misleading the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local employees currently 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 end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Economic Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to boost economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.