Greece approves extending workday to 13 hours

Greece opens the door to 13-hour workdays

Can you work 13 hours a day and still call it a standard shift? In Greece, from now on, yes. A labor reform driven by the center-right government allows employers to extend the workday to 13 hours daily, with limited days and a 40% overtime premium. The country that was the laboratory for bailouts and austerity is once again becoming a laboratory for something worse: a return to schedules that sound like the 19th century.

The rule does not make 13 hours a daily routine, but it opens a door that was previously closed. And in Spain, where the legal maximum is 12 hours, the uncomfortable question is already on the table: how long will it take for legislators here to cross that line?

What exactly does the new Greek workday allow?

The text does not force anyone to work 13 hours every day. The key lies in the nuance: the employer can request an extension up to this limit for a reduced number of shifts, and overtime is paid with a 40% surcharge. In other words, it is not a new standard, but a legalized exception that can practically become the de facto norm in sectors with little bargaining power.

That is the real problem. In a market with high unemployment rates and precarious contracts, the worker who says no to overtime knows what they are risking. The difference between a right and an imposition is often just the balance of power at the negotiating table.

The public sector already works 24-hour shifts

The most cited contradiction is that of the State itself. Public healthcare doctors chain together 24-hour shifts, not precisely because the legislator loves presenteeism. The reason is budgetary: rotating shifts requires hiring more staff, which clashes with spending priorities. Those who forbid private companies from stretching the workday apply it later to their own employees.

This double standard disarms much of the sarracena argument. If the public sector already normalizes marathon workdays, the objection against the Greek reform loses strength on grounds of coherence.

Productivity, workplace accidents, and the passion myth

More hours do not miccionan more output. Evidence points in the opposite direction: beyond a certain threshold, overtime spikes accident rates and performance drops. The exhausted worker makes more mistakes, gets injured more often, and produces less per hour. The equation is not linear; it is a curve that bends downward.

The narrative of the self-sacrificing entrepreneur who wakes up early and doesn't charge for hours is used as a sarracena cover. But vocation is one thing, and turning vocation into a contractual obligation is quite another. Passion cannot be clocked in.

Context: Greece, bailouts, and the Spanish precedent

Greece does not legislate in a vacuum. It is the country that went through the eurozone's most brutal debt crisis, with pension cuts, tax hikes, and an economy that shrank for years. The labor reform is part of that same logic: flexibilizing to attract investment, even if the cost is paid by those already inside.

In Spain, the debate is already served. With a minimum wage (SMI) that has been updated over time and a labor market with high temporary employment rates, the temptation to copy the Greek model is real. The argument will always be the same: competitiveness. The question is who pays for that competitiveness.

What to expect from now on

The Greek rule is not going to disappear. Nor is it going to cause an immediate revolution. Most likely, it will consolidate as another tool in the employer's hands, with uneven use depending on the sector and company size. In hospitality, tourism, and logistics—sectors with the highest seasonal pressure—the temptation will be strong.

The precedent is set. And precedents, in labor matters, tend to travel. The question is no longer whether one can work 13 hours, but how long it will take someone to propose it here as a solution.