The Greek Parliament Passes Debated Workplace Law Permitting 13-Hour Working Days in Certain Circumstances

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated labor reform that permits extended-length working days, in the face of strong opposition and countrywide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

The government maintains that the extended workday is optional, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the moderate faction – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the changes align Greek legislation with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and Greek Financial 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.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August versus an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.