🔗 Share this article Greece Passes Disputed Labor Legislation Authorizing Longer Workdays in Specific Situations Government Building The Greek legislature has ratified a disputed work legislation that enables 13-hour working days, in the face of widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions. Government officials stated the law will revamp Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law." Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law According to the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before. The government emphasizes that the longer workday is optional, solely affects the private 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 governing conservative political group, with the centre-left faction – now the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained. Labor unions have organized two general strikes demanding the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill. Government Defense and Worker Protections A senior official supported the legislation, claiming the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern labor-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens. These regulations will provide workers the option to accept extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours. The measure follows European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration. Critical Viewpoints and Labor Reactions But, critics have accused the administration of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while receiving lower pay and still "face financial difficulties." The public-sector union said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation." Previous Labor Reforms and Financial Context Last year, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a bid to boost the economy. New legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty. European Labor Data and National Financial Indicators Across the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania. The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat. As of January 2025, Greece's national base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries. Joblessness, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August versus an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show. The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life remain among the poorest in the European Union.