The Greek Parliament Enacts Controversial Labor Law Authorizing Extended Working Days in Specific Situations

Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a disputed work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration claimed the law will update the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that brought transportation and public services to a stop.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the reforms bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, critics have accused the administration of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local workers already put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Changes and Economic Context

In 2024, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

Recent legislation, which started at the start of July, permit employees to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat.
• Starting this year, the nation's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.