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The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration claimed the law will update the country's work laws, but critics from the progressive faction labeled it as a "harmful law."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly overtime is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

Officials insists that the longer workday is voluntary, only applies to the business sector, and can exclusively be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

Thursday's vote was supported by lawmakers from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing group abstained.

Labor unions have staged multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the legislation, saying the changes align national laws with modern labor-market realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will give employees the option to accept extra work with the same employer for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing extra hours.

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

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

However, critics have charged the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees already work longer hours than most EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

The public-sector union stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Previous Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

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

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

EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in 2024, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• As of this year, the nation's official minimum wage was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, ranking it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office show.
• The country is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the European Union.