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Greece's legislature has approved a hotly debated labor reform that enables 13-hour working days, in the face of widespread resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp Greek work laws, but critics from the left-wing party described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard 40-hour workweek stays unchanged.

The government maintains that the longer shift is voluntary, solely applies to the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Political Support and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – now the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes demanding the law's repeal this month that halted public transport and services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

A senior official defended the legislation, stating the reforms align national legislation with modern employment realities, and alleged opposition leaders of misinforming the citizens.

These regulations will provide workers the option to take on extra work with the current company for increased compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for declining overtime.

This follows European Union working-time regulations, which limit the mean workweek to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Critical Perspectives and Union Reactions

But, critics have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the country back to a medieval work era." They argue local workers already put in more time than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "face financial difficulties."

A major labor organization said flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Background

In 2024, the country introduced a six-day working week for specific industries in a attempt to boost the economy.

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

EU Work Statistics and National Economic Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the highest average hours were observed in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to EU statistics.
• As of January 2025, the nation's official base pay was nine hundred sixty-eight euros a month, placing it in the bottom group among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, data from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long financial troubles, which concluded in recent years, but wages and quality of life remain among the lowest in the EU.