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Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a contentious labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the law will modernize Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, annual overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek continues as before.

The government maintains that the extended workday is optional, only affects the business sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

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

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the reforms bring in line national legislation with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure follows EU labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which started at the beginning of July, permit workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Labor Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.