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Government Building

The Greek parliament has ratified a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite strong opposition and countrywide protests.

The administration stated the law will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the moderate party – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the bill, claiming the reforms align national legislation with modern employment conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the option to accept additional hours with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This complies with EU working-time regulations, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but permit flexibility over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Context

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

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.