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Greece's parliament has given the green light a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will update the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials maintains that the longer shift is elective, only affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the bill, claiming the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the mean week to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek employees currently work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

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

EU Labor Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.