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Government Building

The Greek parliament has given the green light a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration stated the measure will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week remains in place.

Officials maintains that the extended shift is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate faction – now the main resistance – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that brought transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Work Data and National Financial Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.