🔗 Share this article Greece Approves Debated Workplace Law Authorizing Extended Workdays in Specific Circumstances Government Building Greece's parliament has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of strong resistance and countrywide protests. The administration claimed the law will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster." Key Provisions of the New Work Legislation According to the newly enacted legislation, annual extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week remains in place. The government insists that the extended workday is optional, solely applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year. Parliamentary Support and Resistance The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the moderate faction – now the primary resistance – rejecting the bill, while the progressive party did not vote. Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill. Official Justification and Employee Protections The Labor Minister defended the bill, stating the changes bring in line national laws with current employment conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misleading the citizens. These regulations will provide workers the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they cannot be dismissed for declining overtime. The measure complies with EU working-time rules, which cap the mean week to forty-eight hours counting overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the government. Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses However, critics have charged the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local employees already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while receiving lower pay and still "struggle to make ends meet." A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation." Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Background Last year, the country enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy. Recent laws, which started at the beginning of July, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty. European Labor Data and National Financial Indicators Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8). The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat. Starting January 2025, the nation's official base pay stood at nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations. Unemployment, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an EU average of 5.9%, data from the statistical office indicate. The country is improving since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and quality of life continue to be among the poorest in the EU.