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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite strong resistance and countrywide protests.

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

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government insists that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the average week to forty-eight hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

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

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Work Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.