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Greece's legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread resistance and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will update Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Provisions of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour workweek continues as before.

The government insists that the longer workday is voluntary, solely affects the private sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and public services to a standstill.

Official Defense and Worker Protections

The Labor Minister defended the legislation, saying the changes align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to accept extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

This follows EU labor regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

However, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say local employees already work longer hours than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Context

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent laws, which started at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands, according to EU statistics.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.