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Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce resistance and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party described it as a "harmful law."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

Under the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek stays unchanged.

Officials emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, solely affects the private sector, and can exclusively be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left faction – now the primary resistance – voting against the bill, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized two general strikes calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the reforms align national laws with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the choice to accept additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they cannot be fired for declining extra hours.

This follows EU working-time regulations, which cap the mean week to 48 hours counting overtime but permit adjustments over 12 months, as stated by the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Responses

However, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a medieval work era." They say Greek employees already work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Context

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific industries in a bid to stimulate economic growth.

New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Work Statistics and Greek Financial Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.