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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that permits 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread opposition and countrywide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government insists that the longer shift is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

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

Government Defense and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the reforms bring in line national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for declining overtime.

This follows EU working-time rules, which cap the mean week to 48 hours including overtime but permit flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which started at the beginning of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Work Data and National Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• 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 five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.