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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that permits 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will update Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes bring in line Greek laws with current labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will give workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, critics have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Context

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

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

European Labor Data and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.