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Greece's parliament has approved a hotly debated labor reform that permits 13-hour working days, despite strong resistance and nationwide protests.

Government officials asserted the law will update the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Key Elements of the Recently Passed Labor Law

Under the newly enacted law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the regular 40-hour workweek continues as before.

The government maintains that the longer shift is voluntary, solely applies to the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to thirty-seven days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Opposition

Thursday's vote was backed by MPs from the governing conservative party, with the centre-left faction – now the main opposition – voting against the legislation, while the progressive party abstained.

Labor unions have organized multiple protests calling for the bill's withdrawal recently that brought public transport and services to a stop.

Official Justification and Employee Protections

A senior official supported the bill, saying the changes align national laws with current employment conditions, and accused critics of misleading the public.

The laws will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher compensation, while guaranteeing they will not be dismissed for refusing extra hours.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which cap the mean week to 48 hours counting extra hours but allow flexibility over 12 months, as stated by the administration.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Reactions

But, opposition parties have accused the administration of weakening employee protections and "driving the nation back to a medieval work era." They say local workers currently work longer hours than the majority of EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated variable shifts in practice mean "the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Recent Workplace Reforms and Economic Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.

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

EU Labor Data and National Economic Metrics

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest average hours were observed in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the union is in the Netherlands, as per EU statistics.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official base pay stood at €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had peaked at twenty-eight percent during the financial crisis, was eight point one percent in August compared with an EU average of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which concluded in 2018, but salaries and quality of life remain among the lowest in the European Union.