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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious labor reform that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the changes align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, critics have charged the government of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue local employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which started at the beginning of July, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Work Data and National Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay stood at €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 August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.