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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour working days, despite fierce opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the measure will revamp the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

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

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the changes align national legislation with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

This complies with EU labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's official minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.