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Greece's parliament has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

The government insists that the extended workday is elective, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be used for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right party, with the centre-left party – now the main resistance – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

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

Government Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the legislation, stating the changes bring in line national laws with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the public.

The laws will give workers the choice to accept extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure complies with European Union working-time regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, as stated by the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, critics have accused the administration of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers already put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties."

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

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

Last year, Greece enacted a six-day work schedule for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as opposed to 40.

EU Work Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the longest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• 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 EU.