🔗 Share this article

Government Building

The Greek legislature has given the green light a hotly debated work legislation that permits 13-hour work shifts, despite fierce opposition and countrywide strike actions.

Government officials claimed the measure will revamp the country's work laws, but opposition figures from the progressive faction labeled it as a "legislative monstrosity."

Key Provisions of the Recently Passed Work Legislation

Under the freshly approved law, yearly extra hours is also at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week continues as before.

Officials insists that the extended shift is elective, only applies to the business sector, and can only be used for up to 37 days each year.

Political Backing and Opposition

Thursday's ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling conservative party, with the centre-left party – now the main opposition – rejecting the bill, while the progressive group abstained.

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

Official Defense and Worker Safeguards

A senior official supported the bill, claiming the changes bring in line Greek laws with current employment conditions, and alleged critics of misleading the citizens.

The laws will provide employees the choice to take on extra work with the current company for 40% higher compensation, while ensuring they will not be dismissed for refusing overtime.

This follows EU labor rules, which limit the mean week to forty-eight hours counting extra hours but permit adjustments over 12 months, according to the administration.

Critical Perspectives and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of weakening employee protections and "pushing the nation back to a labor middle age." They argue Greek employees currently 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 end of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the authorization of over-exploitation."

Recent Labor Reforms and Economic Background

Last year, the country introduced a six-day work schedule for specific sectors in a attempt to stimulate the economy.

Recent legislation, which came into effect at the start of the summer, permit workers to work up to forty-eight hours in a week as opposed to 40.

EU Work Data and National Economic Indicators

• Throughout the EU in the previous year, the highest working weeks were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria (39.0), Poland and Romania.
• The lowest work hours in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), as per Eurostat.
• As of this year, the nation's national base pay stood at €968 a month, placing it in the bottom group among EU countries.
• Joblessness, which had reached a high at 28% during the economic downturn, was eight point one percent in the summer compared with an European mean of five point nine percent, figures from Eurostat indicate.
• The country is recovering since its prolonged debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but salaries and quality of life continue to be among the lowest in the EU.