Greece has opened the door to marathon workdays, with a new law allowing private-sector shifts of up to 13 hours, capped at 37 days a year and wrapped in EU rest and weekly limits. Supporters call it "seasonal flexibility". Opponents say it's a fast track to burnout.

In a small Athens flat, a bare bulb hums as fresh paint dries. House painter Giorgos Makrostergios drags his roller across the wall, deep into his twelfth hour on the job. It's one last coat before the keys change hands – and for him, it's business as usual.

"We're the ones keeping things moving – the people who work," he says, slumping briefly onto a paint-splattered stool. "It's tough, especially in season. A lot of times, the eight-hour day just isn't real."

Makrostergios is exactly the kind of worker unions and inspectors will be watching as Greece tests out longer shifts during peak demand. On paper, the new rules are voluntary and limited. On the ground, he says, the pressure is already there.

"On big weeks, you just keep going," he admits. "You think less about overtime and more about getting through – and what's left for your family when you get home."

Unions warn the law could normalize extreme hours and weaken what's left of worker protections, after huge protests across the country. For sectors like tourism, hospitality and food service – where long days are already the norm – they fear it will simply legalize what used to be illegal.

"In our sector, the eight-hour day didn't exist, days off didn't exist," says Giorgos Stefanakis, president of the Food Service-Tourism Workers' Union. "Employers wanted that reality legalized. In practice, the new law allows up to 13 hours for the same employer."

Stefanakis warns the change could leave many with even more unstable hours and pay, especially those working flexible schedules, freelancers and people on zero-hours-style contracts. 

Behind the legal wording, he says, lurks a familiar pattern: timesheets quietly "adjusted", meal breaks taken off the clock, and start and finish times nudged around to make punishing shifts look legal.

The government insists critics are scaremongering. Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis defends the law as a tool for modern workplaces, not a rollback of rights. 

"It's optional. No one can be forced or fired for refusing," he says. "EU rest periods and weekly caps still apply. This is seasonal flexibility – not a replacement for the eight-hour day."

That's the official line: more choice, not more pressure. But in a job market where many fear losing work altogether, unions say "optional" can quickly feel like "do it or else".

For now, Greece is running a live experiment in how far the working day can be stretched. Bosses talk about flexibility and competitiveness. Workers talk about exhaustion, family time and the fear that a 13-hour day could quietly become the new normal.

As more workers and firms opt in, the country will find out whether this rule is truly reserved for exceptional circumstances – or becomes just another routine part of life on the job.