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The Greek legislature has given the green light a disputed labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, in the face of strong resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials stated the measure will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, yearly overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

Officials emphasizes that the extended workday is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Political Support and Resistance

The recent vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative political group, with the moderate faction – currently the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party did not vote.

Worker organizations have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that halted public transport and services to a standstill.

Government Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, stating the reforms bring in line national laws with current employment realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.

These regulations will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the current company for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Labor Responses

However, critics have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers currently put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said flexible working hours in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for certain sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

New laws, which started at the beginning of the summer, allow employees to labor up to 48 hours in a week as instead of 40.

EU Work Data and National Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, the nation's national minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.