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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a disputed labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, despite widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials asserted the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is also at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary resistance – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests demanding the law's repeal this month that brought public transport and public services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the changes align Greek legislation with current employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give workers the option to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be fired for refusing overtime.

This complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say local employees currently work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Context

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

New laws, which started at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and National Economic Indicators

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, the nation's official minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.