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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the law will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is also at 150 hours, while the standard 40-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is voluntary, only applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This follows EU working-time rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Data and National Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.