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Greece's legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide protests.

The administration asserted the law will update Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the New Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate party – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, stating the changes bring in line national laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will give workers the choice to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while ensuring they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

This follows European Union working-time rules, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue local employees currently put in more time than most Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a bid to boost the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of July, permit employees to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's official minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.