Greece Approves Debated Labor Legislation Authorizing 13-Hour Workdays in Specific Circumstances

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious work legislation that permits extended-length working days, despite fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials insists that the longer shift is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

The recent ballot was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, saying the changes align national legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This complies with European Union working-time rules, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, allow workers to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

EU Work Data and Greek Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.