Exhausted employees don’t want it – so why has Greece introduced a 13-hour work day?

The Greek government has passed a law allowing private employers to extend shifts to 13 hours per day, framed in terms of “flexibility” and “growth”. It’s marketed as voluntary and fairly paid, but effectively it dismantles the standard eight-hour day, despite survey data showing workers overwhelmingly oppose it.

But while critics question its legality, technically it does comply with the European Union’s^[1] working time directive. For many, especially in hospitality, it simply formalises what already exists: long hours, low pay, little rest.

The reform mirrors a broader European and global shift towards deregulated work. And it proves that the fight for shorter hours is far from over, as I set out in a chapter in the forthcoming book^[2] Global Futures of Work: A Critical Introduction.

After Greek workers’ 1936 victory securing the eight-hour day, the country has now reached a point where Greeks are again among the most overworked in Europe. Data from the EU’s statistics office^[3] and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development^[4] (OECD) show full-time employees log about 1,900 hours a year, compared with 1,510 in the UK and 1,330 in Germany.

Weekly hours add up to 41-42 on average, the highest in the EU. Yet wages and productivity remain low. This paradox of working more but earning less reflects a regime centred on labour intensification and wage suppression, weak collective bargaining and precarious jobs.

Since 2005, Greece has loosened its working time regime under “flexibility” reforms. A 2005 law^[5] allowed daily shifts to be stretched by two hours, another change^[6] in 2021 redefined overtime, while a third law^[7] two years later revived the six-day week.

And now the fair work for all bill permits 13-hour days on a “voluntary” basis. Together, these measures have eroded the eight-hour norm, substituting collective bargaining for the needs of employers.

The Greek government claims that workers want longer days, but the evidence suggests otherwise. The drive to extend working hours masks a refusal to raise real wages and household income. Since the 2008-09 financial crisis, GDP has shrunk by 27%^[8] and remains below pre-crisis levels, while household disposable income has fallen by 35 percentage points.

Even the recent minimum-wage hike^[9] (a 6% increase to €880 (£775) per month for full-time workers) offers no real gains in purchasing power, leaving workers poorer than before the crisis. Instead of higher pay, the government’s solution is longer days – stretching time when it cannot stretch income.

A survey earlier this year by the Greek labour institute^[11] found that 94% of workers support shorter hours with no pay cut, and nearly 60% reject a 13-hour day outright. Among those already working such hours, 70% say the “voluntary” label is meaningless, with workers forced to put in these hours to make ends meet.

For many, the new law simply confirms the overwork they already face. For others, it represents a return to the 19th century. The wave of nationwide strikes^[12] demanding its repeal raises a clear question. If workers reject it, and EU law supposedly guarantees the opposite, how can the measure pass?

Most opposition parties questioned the 13-hour workday’s legality under EU law, but the EU working time directive itself provides the loophole^[13]. It stipulates a 48-hour weekly average and 11 hours’ daily rest, yet imposes no cap on daily hours.

Member states may grant opt-outs, allowing workers to “voluntarily” exceed the limits, effectively legalising overwork. In response to a Greek MEP, the European Commission confirmed^[14] that Greece’s reform complies with EU rules. It admitted that the directive allows the 13-hour workday if the 48-hour weekly average is met in the reference period of four months. It is presented as “worker protection”, but this logic simply permits exhaustion now, rest later.

The UK government’s rebuke^[15] of South Cambridgeshire District Council for trialling a four-day work week shows that resistance to shorter hours is hardly unique to Greece. Across advanced economies, longer working time has been normalised.

And NHS staff reportedly performed more than 1 million hours^[16] of unpaid overtime every week before the pandemic. By 2025, it has been claimed that inefficiencies and delays have added another 7.5 million^[17] extra work hours every week across the NHS workforce.

Amazon workers in the US work ten-hour shifts and 55-hour weeks^[18] during peak seasons, with similar patterns in the UK. Amazon said^[19] its work patterns offer flexible career opportunities and that its staff were the “heart and soul” of its operations. Another elite tech firm looks like following suit: Google’s Sergey Brin actually called for a 60-hour week^[20].

The push to extend working hours is not an anomaly in Greece, but part of a broader trend across advanced economies – the normalisation of overwork in the name of flexibility and growth.

Workers are expected to adapt, erasing boundaries between work and life. Greece’s 13-hour day doesn’t mark progress but a retreat from hard-won labour rights. And it threatens to undo historic victories on working conditions in pursuit of further productivity increases and profits.

This article was corrected on November 12 to amend the Greek minimum wage to €880 per month rather than per week.

References

1. ^{^} European Union’s (theconversation.com)
2. ^{^} forthcoming book (www.routledge.com)
3. ^{^} statistics office (ec.europa.eu)
4. ^{^} Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (data-explorer.oecd.org)
5. ^{^} A 2005 law (ypergasias.gov.gr)
6. ^{^} another change (www.taxheaven.gr)
7. ^{^} third law (www.taxheaven.gr)
8. ^{^} shrunk by 27% (www.levyinstitute.org)
9. ^{^} minimum-wage hike (greekcitytimes.com)
10. ^{^} EPA/PARIS PAPAIOANNOU (epaimages.com)
11. ^{^} labour institute (www.ot.gr)
12. ^{^} nationwide strikes (www.theguardian.com)
13. ^{^} provides the loophole (eur-lex.europa.eu)
14. ^{^} European Commission confirmed (www.europarl.europa.eu)
15. ^{^} UK government’s rebuke (www.telegraph.co.uk)
16. ^{^} 1 million hours (www.theguardian.com)
17. ^{^} 7.5 million (appian.com)
18. ^{^} ten-hour shifts and 55-hour weeks (www.ntu.ac.uk)
19. ^{^} Amazon said (www.theverge.com)
20. ^{^} 60-hour week (fortune.com)