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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a contentious labor reform that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration asserted the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek remains in place.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the progressive group did not vote.

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

Government Defense and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the changes bring in line national laws with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with EU labor rules, which limit the average workweek to forty-eight hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say local employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens 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 standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New legislation, which started at the start of the summer, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's official base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August 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 salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.