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Greece's legislature has ratified a disputed work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, despite widespread opposition and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing party labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is limited at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

The government emphasizes that the extended shift is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – currently the primary opposition – rejecting the bill, while the left-wing group abstained.

Worker organizations have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the changes bring in line national laws with modern employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.

The measure follows European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean workweek to forty-eight hours including overtime but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Opposition Perspectives and Labor Reactions

However, critics have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local employees currently put in more time than most EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of July, permit workers to labor up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, Greece's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the poorest in the EU.