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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will modernize Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

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

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate party – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

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

The laws will give employees the option to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than the majority of Europeans 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 standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

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

EU Work Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.