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Greece’s parliament has approved a contested labour bill that would allow 13-hour workdays, despite fierce opposition and nationwide strikes.
The government said it will modernise Greek labour laws, but a spokesperson for the left-wing opposition Syriza party called the bill a “legislative monstrosity”.
Under the new law, annual overtime is also capped at 150 hours, and the standard 40-hour week remains in place.
The government insists that the longer workday is optional, only affects the private sector, and can only be applied up to 37 days a year.
Thursday’s vote was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right New Democracy party, with centre-left Pasok party – now the main opposition – voting against the bill, while the left-wing Syriza party abstained.
Unions have staged two general strikes demanding the bill’s withdrawal this month that brought public transport and services to a standstill.
Labour Minister Niki Kerameus defended the bill, saying the reforms align Greek legislation with modern labour-market realities, and accused opposition leaders of misleading the public.
The laws will give workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for 40% higher pay, while ensuring they cannot be dismissed for refusing overtime.
This complies with European Union working-time rules, which limit the average week to 48 hours including overtime but allow flexibility over 12 months, the government said.
According to officials, the law gives employees the option to work longer for one employer rather than hold multiple part-time jobs, and that participation will remain voluntary.
But opposition parties have accused the government of eroding workers’ rights and “pushing the country back to a labour middle age”. They say Greek employees already work longer hours than most Europeans while earning less and still “struggle to make ends meet.”
The public-sector union ADEDY said flexible working hours in practice mean “the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life and the legalisation of over-exploitation,” the AFP news agency reports.
Across the EU in 2024, the longest working weeks in 2024 were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria (39.0), Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
The shortest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands (32.1), according to Eurostat.
As of January 2025, Greece’s national minimum wage stood at €968 (£839, $1127) a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
Unemployment, which had peaked at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
Greece is recovering since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.
