🔗 Share this article Greece Passes Disputed Labor Law Allowing 13-Hour Workdays in Specific Situations Government Building The Greek legislature has approved a disputed labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite strong opposition and countrywide strike actions. The administration claimed the measure will revamp Greek labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster." Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation Under the newly enacted legislation, yearly overtime is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek stays unchanged. The government maintains that the longer shift is elective, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year. Parliamentary Support and Opposition Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – currently the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained. Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and public services to a standstill. Official Defense and Employee Protections A senior official defended the bill, stating the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment realities, and accused critics of misinforming the public. The laws will provide workers the option to accept additional hours with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for refusing extra hours. This complies with European Union working-time regulations, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government. Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions However, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet." A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor." Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Background Last year, the country 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, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40. European Labor Statistics and National Financial Metrics Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8). The shortest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat. Starting January 2025, the nation's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries. Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show. Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the European Union.