🔗 Share this article Greece Enacts Debated Workplace Legislation Permitting 13-Hour Workdays in Certain Circumstances Government Building Greece's legislature has ratified a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions. The administration asserted the law will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity." Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation Under the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek continues as before. The government insists that the extended shift is optional, solely affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually. Parliamentary Support and Opposition Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained. Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal recently that halted transportation and public services to a standstill. Official Defense and Worker Safeguards A senior official supported the legislation, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the public. The laws will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing extra hours. This complies with EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the government. Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses But, opposition parties have accused the government of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek workers already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties." The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor." Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context Last year, Greece enacted a six-day working week for certain sectors in a bid to stimulate the economy. New legislation, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40. EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8). The shortest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, according to Eurostat. Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay was €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries. Joblessness, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show. Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in 2018, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.