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Government Building

The Greek parliament has approved a disputed work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the moderate party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the changes align national laws with modern labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows European Union labor regulations, which cap the mean workweek to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a labor middle age." They say local workers currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Labor Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's official base pay was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.