🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's legislature has approved a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the law will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted law, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the reforms bring in line Greek legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.