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The Greek parliament has given the green light a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and countrywide strike actions.

The administration claimed the measure will modernize the country's work laws, but critics from the left-wing faction described it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Elements of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved law, annual extra hours is capped at one hundred and fifty hours, while the standard forty-hour week stays unchanged.

The government insists that the extended shift is elective, only affects the private sector, and can only be implemented for up to 37 days annually.

Parliamentary Support and Resistance

The recent ballot was supported by MPs from the ruling centre-right political group, with the centre-left party – currently the primary resistance – rejecting the legislation, while the left-wing party abstained.

Labor unions have staged two general strikes calling for the law's repeal recently that halted public transport and public services to a standstill.

Government Defense and Employee Protections

The Labor Minister supported the bill, saying the changes bring in line national legislation with modern employment conditions, and accused critics of misinforming the public.

These regulations will provide workers the option to take on additional hours with the same employer for increased compensation, while ensuring they cannot be fired for declining overtime.

The measure complies with EU labor regulations, which limit the average workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, according to the government.

Opposition Viewpoints and Labor Responses

But, opposition parties have charged the administration of eroding employee protections and "driving the nation back to a labor middle age." They say Greek workers currently put in more time than most EU citizens while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

The public-sector union said variable shifts in reality mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the destruction of family and social life and the authorization of excessive labor."

Recent Labor Changes and Economic Context

Last year, Greece introduced a six-day working week for specific sectors in a bid to boost the economy.

New laws, which came into effect at the start of July, permit workers to labor up to forty-eight hours in a week as instead of 40.

European Work Data and National Financial Metrics

• Across the European Union in the previous year, the highest average hours were recorded in Greece (39.8 hours), followed by Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the bloc is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting this year, Greece's national minimum wage was €968 a month, placing it in the lower tier among EU countries.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in the summer compared with an European mean of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its prolonged financial troubles, which ended in 2018, but wages and living standards remain among the lowest in the EU.