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Government Building

The Greek legislature has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that enables 13-hour work shifts, in the face of widespread opposition and nationwide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp the country's labor regulations, but opposition figures from the left-wing party described it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the newly enacted legislation, yearly extra hours is limited at 150 hours, while the standard forty-hour workweek continues as before.

The government maintains that the longer workday is elective, solely affects the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

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

Worker organizations have organized multiple protests calling for the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the bill, saying the reforms bring in line Greek laws with modern employment realities, and accused critics of misleading the public.

The laws will give employees the option to take on additional hours with the current company for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

This follows EU labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over 12 months, according to the government.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Responses

But, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers' rights and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They say local 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 stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Changes and Financial Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Recent laws, which came into effect at the beginning of July, allow workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of forty.

European Work Data and Greek Financial Indicators

• Across the EU in the previous year, the longest working weeks were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's official base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was 8.1% in August versus an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• Greece is recovering since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the lowest in the EU.