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Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the law will modernize the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the changes align Greek laws with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will give employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This complies with EU labor rules, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees currently put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow employees to work up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.