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Greece's parliament has approved a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will update Greek work laws, but opposition figures from the left-wing faction described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted law, annual overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

The government insists that the extended workday is optional, only affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Political Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group did not vote.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests demanding the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Worker Safeguards

The Labor Minister defended the bill, saying the reforms align Greek legislation with current labor-market realities, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will give workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for declining extra hours.

The measure complies with European Union labor regulations, which limit the mean week to 48 hours including extra hours but permit adjustments over a year, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Perspectives and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek workers already 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 reality mean "the end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Reforms and Financial Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the start of the summer, permit employees to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as instead of forty.

European Work Statistics and Greek Economic Metrics

• Throughout the European Union in 2024, the longest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's national minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.