The General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) responded with an angry statement to the Labour Ministry’s intention to extend working hours to up to 13 per day for the same employer.
Worker representatives argue that the Greek government is attempting to solidify a practice that will physically and mentally exhaust employees, without actually improving the productivity of the Greek economy.
"The further deregulation of the labour framework and the shift of responsibility for managing working and leisure time to individual negotiation — where the employer-employee relationship is imbalanced — essentially undermines any effort to restore a framework of free collective bargaining," said the GSEE’s statement.
It continued: "The duration of working time, rest periods, and vacation for workers cannot be regulated by government intervention, but only through social dialogue, through collective bargaining."
The group spoke of “an attempt to dismantle collective labour law” and concluded: "We will not allow, among all the ‘firsts’ Greece already holds in terms of living and working conditions for wage earners, for it to also gain the most deregulated labour law framework in the EU."
The 13-hour week, overtime and flexibility
The proposed law, which will be subject to public consultation in the coming weeks, provides that employees working for the same employer will be able to work up to 13 hours per day. Until now, this measure only applied to those working for two different employers.
As Labour Minister Niki Kerameos explained in a TV interview, workers will receive a significant 40% bonus for overtime.
"If you do up to 13 hours at two employers, that comes out to €104. If you work the same hours for one employer, it comes to €119," she said.
At the same time, there will be safeguards in place ensuring that employees cannot work more than 48 hours per week over a 4-month period, and that annual overtime does not exceed 150 hours.
However, GSEE believes that this opens the door to abuse at the expense of workers.
"You wake up in the morning. You go to work at 8am and work continuously until 9pm. Is that sustainable? Is it sustainable for your productivity? Is it sustainable for your health? Is it sustainable for reconciling your family life, your personal life and your other commitments? We believe it is not sustainable. The countries that have the highest productivity, such as Denmark, Finland, and Germany, are the countries that have the shortest working hours," Christos Goulas, director general of the GSEE Labour Institute, told Euronews.
The Labour Ministry argues that the goal is to support sectors critical to the Greek economy, such as hospitality and tourism, which are struggling to fill job vacancies.
According to the study "Careers and Candidates 2024", conducted by the Athens University of Economics and Business in collaboration with kariera.gr, achieving work-life balance is one of the top priorities for workers in Greece — especially among younger people.
It ranks third in the list of main factors when choosing an employer, after salary and job security.
"The finding of this survey in terms of what keeps and attracts employees to a company is that the most important factor is remuneration. That’s no surprise, considering we’re just emerging from an economic crisis and also facing rising living costs," Ioannis Nikolaou, professor of human resources management at the UBA, told Euronews.
Employers in Greece are asking for more flexible forms of labor. They claim they cannot find workers, and that vacant positions threaten the viability of their businesses.
Unemployment in Greece has fallen to 8.3%, the lowest level in 17 years.
However, the average wage in Greece remains almost half the European average wage, according to recent data from the GSEE Labour Institute.
