The Greek Parliament Passes Debated Workplace Law Allowing 13-Hour Working Days in Specific Situations

Government Building

Greece's legislature has ratified a contentious work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week stays unchanged.

Officials maintains that the longer workday is voluntary, only affects the business sector, and can exclusively be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing centre-right political group, with the moderate party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought transportation and services to a stop.

Official Defense and Employee Safeguards

A senior official defended the legislation, claiming the reforms align Greek legislation with modern labor-market realities, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

These regulations will provide employees the choice to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This follows European Union labor rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They argue Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's national base pay stood at €968 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 eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the European Union.