🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration claimed the measure will revamp the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government insists that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the governing conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive group abstained.

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

Official Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line national laws with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say local employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Labor Data and Greek Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• The country 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.