Individual Labour Law

The first year of an open-ended contract is a probationary period, during which the contract can be rescinded without compensation being payable.

However the compensation to be paid cannot exceed the amount of 30 times the lowest daily wage for unskilled workers, times 8, times the number of months of compensation).

When rescinding an open-ended employment contract, the employer must not cite the reason for terminating the contract. However, this can be reviewed by the court as to whether the rescission was abusive, and in this case, it must be proven by means of counter-evidence, that the rescission did not take place for the abusive reason cited by the former employee.

In what cases is rescission of an open-ended employment contract invalid in law?

• where the notice is not given in writing and the compensation specified by law is not paid at the same time,
• where a trade union official is dismissed without approval (granted for specific reasons only) from the special committee for this purpose,
• where the dismissal takes place during the course of annual leave,
• where the dismissal takes place during pregnancy or 18 months after childbirth, unless there is a serious ground for dismissal,
• Where the dismissal is for reasons of gender or marital status, as revenge for not giving into harassment by the employer or as a reaction to a complaint related to unequal treatment of men and women,
• Where, in the case of group dismissals, the number of persons aged 55 to 64 dismissed exceed more than 10% of the total number of persons dismissed each month,
• Where, in the case of group dismissals, the prescribed legal procedures have not been adhered to.

What rules apply in relation to the pay of employees?

Pay can be freely negotiated but is subject to the minimum amount specified in the applicable Collective Labour Agreement (CLA). If the employee falls within the scope of some sectoral, cross-sectoral or other CLA because of his area of specialisation, the most favourable CLA overall for him will apply, i.e. it is not possible to select and put together individual provisions from various CLAs.

What are the working time limits?

The rule is 8 hours of work, 5 days a week. In general, it is not permissible to “offset” working time, not even with the employee’s consent. The only exceptions are as follows: ƒƒ

• a 9-hour working day is permitted, where the total working time for the week does not exceed 40 hours.
• over the course of a 6-month period, work can be increased by 2 hours a day (i.e. up to 10 hours) with a corresponding reduction in the working time each day by 2 hours during the next 6-month period (i.e. up to 6 hours). Instead of reduced employment, it is possible for rest days to be given.
• It is also possible to increase the rate of work by up to 256 hours within a period of 8 calendar months, with a corresponding period of reduced employment during the other months of the same calendar year.

Special legislative provisions apply to undertakings which operate using shifts.

What pay applies for night work?

There is a 25% augment to the statutory hourly wage. An agreement concerning the salary paid to cover night work, where it exceeds the minimum statutory limits, is lawful.

What rules apply to working exceeding 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week?

Work between 41 and 45 hours a week is called “extra work” and is not taken into account in the limits specified for permissible overtime. Work exceeding 9 hours a day and/or 45 hours a week is called overtime.

Overtime within the limits specified by law is “lawful overtime”, but the limit depends on the sector of employment (industry, retail outlets, offices, etc.). Overtime must be entered in an overtime register before its starts. Overtime exceeding the lawful limit or for which the aforementioned procedures are not complied with is “unlawful overtime”. Once a month the total overtime worked during the previous month must be notified to the authority.

How is extra work and overtime paid on the basis of a 5-day working week?

“Extra work” is paid at a rate of 20% on top of the hourly wage paid.

“Lawful overtime” is paid as follows: up to 120 hours a year by augmenting the hourly wage paid by 40%, while for overtime above the 120 hour limit, the augment is 60%. “Unlawful overtime” is paid with an 80% augment. Contrary to the situation with “extra work”, the agreement that the salary paid will also cover an undefined number of overtime hours, is invalid.

According to the recent case-law of the Highest Court, the augment payable for overtime worked can be paid with a corresponding free time in lieu, under conditions to be carefully considered.

What scope is there for reducing payrolling costs?

• It is possible to negotiate an enterprise-level CLA with staff whose financial terms are less favourable than those specified in the relevant sectoral CLA, but only if the latter has not been declared applicable on a mandatory basis by the Minister of Employment.
• It is possible to switch to part-time work for daily work of less than 8 hours. The agreement must be in writing and notified to the Labour Inspectorate within 8 days.
• It is possible to negotiate with employees and to impose an employment by rotation scheme for 9 months in each calendar year. Commencement of such scheme must be notified to the Labour Inspectorate within 8 days.
• It is possible to temporarily lay off a certain part of the staff (but not specific individuals) in writing. The layoff must relate to a maximum period of 3 months per year. While temporarily laid off, employees should receive half of their average normal pay over the last two months while they had been working full time.
• It is possible to employ young people aged 18 to 25 for two years at pay rates 20% lower than the statutory minimum. A condition for such recruitments is that the employer has not reduced the number of staff over the previous 3 months.
• It is possible to rescind the employment contract without limit at undertakings which employ up to 20 employees. At larger undertakings, the dismissals are deemed to be group redundancies and are prohibited if they relate to more than 6 people per month for a staff of between 20 and 150 people or 5% up to a maximum of 30 people per month for a staff of over 150 people (this percentage can be changed by Ministerial Decision). It should be pointed out that, in the case of “voluntary” departure by employees in the context of a social plan and at the same time of dismissal of at least 5 employees per month, the “voluntary” departures are taken into account in the aforementioned limits. In order to make group redundancies, the employer must first consult with employees. The minutes of the consultations must be submitted officially.

Employees can be lent.

What are the conditions for lending employees?

Simple lending of employees, which normally takes place between companies in the same group, is a tripartite contract since it requires the consent of the employee as well. Hiring out employees on a professional basis is done by specialised companies which have obtained authorisation for that purpose from the State. The duration of that loan period may not exceed 36 months and requires that there be emergency, temporary or seasonal needs at the business, which borrows the employee. The loan of the employee may be renewed, but only after a period of 23 days from the expiry of the last loan period. Where those time limits are exceeded, the law presumes that there is an open-ended employment contract between the employee and the business which borrowed his services. EU-Directives 96/71 and 2014/67 have been transposed into national law.

What are the mandatory official holidays and how is work on those days and on Sunday paid for?

25 March, Easter Monday, 15 August, 25 December and for retail outlets, Holy Friday up to 13:00 hours. May Day may also be designated as a mandatory holiday by decision of the Minister of Employment. Work on official holidays is paid by augmenting the statutory daily / hourly wage by 75%. An agreement to be reached on the salary paid to cover work on Sundays and official holidays, where it exceeds the minimum statutory limits, is lawful

What rules apply to managerial staff?

Managerial staff and employees, who hold positions of trust, are those who perform general management-related duties which affect the work of the business which employs them, as well as those employees who hold positions of special trust which could substantively affect the taking of decisions. The criterion for determining whether an employee falls into this category include, high pay, the power to represent the company, the ability to hire or dismiss staff, etc.

This category of employees is excluded from the application of the favourable provisions relating to overtime, work on official holidays, night work, work away from normal place of work and leave.

How long is the annual leave and what pay are employees entitled to?

Employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 working days of leave (in the case of a 5-day working week) or a part thereof for pro rata temporis of employment. For each additional year of work, employees are entitled to an additional day of leave up to a total of 22 days. Where the employee works for 10 years with the same employer or 12 years with any employer, he is entitled to 25 days leave. After completing 25 years of work, employees are entitled to 26 days leave. Full pay is owed for the days employees are on leave. In addition they are also entitled to an annual leave bonus equal to the pay for leave, maximum half a salary.

What privileges do working mothers have?

Maternity leave: A total of 17 weeks (8 weeks before childbirth and 9 weeks afterwards), with the salary being paid for 15 days where the employee has worked for one year and for one month where she has worked for more than one year.

Childcare leave: a working mother or father is entitled for 30 months from the end of maternity leave either to come to work one hour later or leave work one hour earlier each day. However, he/she can arrange with the employer to work for 2 hours less per day for the first 12 months and 1 hour less for the next 6 months.

Special 6 month leave without pay.

Parental childcare leave without pay for 3 ½ months until the child turns 3 ½ years old.

What rules apply when the employee is absent due to illness?

The employee can claim half of his pay for the first three days and full pay for 15 days for the first year in employment or 30 days for any year thereafter, less the amount which the employee received from his social security provider.

What are the rules applicable in the case of occupational accidents?

Where the employee is insured for social security purposes with the ΕΦΚΑ Fund, the employer is exempted from the obligation to make restitution of the material harm suffered by the employee. The employer is, however, obliged to make restitution of the moral harm suffered where the accident was due to the employer’s fault.

How long can an employee be absent for work due to illness?

Absence for periods of times outside these limits can be deemed to be tacit rescission of the contract by the employee under strict conditions.

Is there an obligation to mandatorily employ people?

Yes, 8% of the total staff, where the undertaking employees over 50 people. Undertakings which reported balance sheet losses during the last two years are exempted from this. These people are placed by the Authority and the contract can be rescinded only with the Authority’s approval and only for a limited number of specific grounds

What rules apply to non-EU foreigners?

Foreigners that are not EU citizens and belong to the following categories are eligible to receive a residence permit:

• Investors, including their family members, for a 5 year period that may be renewed. Depending on the value of the investment and its characteristics, to be sanctioned by the Ministry of National Economy, the total number of permits can reach the number of 10 per investment.
• Within the frame of the so-called strategic Investments, to be sanctioned by a crossministerial commission, up to 10 non-EU foreigners can be employed for a 10-years renewable period. The residence permit may extend to their family members as well.
• Non-EU foreigners, including their family members, purchasing real estate in Greece of a value of at least € 250,000, even if the property is invested through legal entities 100% owned by these individuals, may be granted a residence permit for a 5 years (renewable).
• Non-EU senior executives of Greek companies or Greek branches of foreign companies as long as such entities have at least 25 employees.