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Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a disputed labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration stated the measure will modernize Greek work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

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

Political Support and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that halted public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, claiming the changes align national laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will provide employees the choice to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining extra hours.

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

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of eroding workers' rights and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.