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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a hotly debated labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will give employees the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean week to 48 hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.