🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a contentious labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the extended workday is elective, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

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

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, saying the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with current labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less 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 authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

Last year, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New legislation, which started at the start of July, permit employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

European Work Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of 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.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.