🔗 Share this article

Government Building

Greece's parliament has approved a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

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

The government insists that the extended shift is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – now the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the bill, saying the reforms bring in line national laws with current employment realities, and accused critics of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the option to take on extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining extra hours.

The measure follows European Union working-time regulations, which cap the average week to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Context

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

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's national base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.