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Government Building

Greece's parliament has ratified a hotly debated labor reform that authorizes 13-hour working days, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide protests.

Government officials asserted the measure will modernize Greek labor regulations, but opposition figures from the progressive faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the New Labor Law

According to the newly enacted law, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular 40-hour week remains in place.

The government maintains that the extended workday is optional, only applies to the business sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days annually.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by lawmakers from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left party – now the main opposition – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests demanding the law's repeal recently that brought public transport and public services to a stop.

Government Defense and Employee Safeguards

The Labor Minister supported the bill, claiming the reforms align national legislation with modern labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the citizens.

The laws will provide workers the choice to take on extra work with the current company for increased pay, while ensuring they will not be fired for declining overtime.

This follows EU labor regulations, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours including extra hours but allow flexibility over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

However, opposition parties have accused the government of eroding employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek employees already put in more time than the majority of Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization said variable shifts in practice mean "the end of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Financial Background

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day work schedule for certain industries in a bid to boost the economy.

New laws, which started at the start of July, allow workers to labor up to 48 hours in a workweek as opposed to forty.

European Work Data and Greek Economic Indicators

• Throughout the European Union in the previous year, the longest working weeks were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, Greece's official minimum wage stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from the statistical office indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which concluded in recent years, but salaries and quality of life remain among the poorest in the EU.