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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a hotly debated labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, despite fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the law will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the newly enacted legislation, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek continues as before.

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

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative political group, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, claiming the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and National Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.