Basic legal framework for employment in Greece
Working time
In all sectors of work without exception and in all sectors of economic activity, full-time work shall be 40 hours a week, which may be allocated over a 5- or 6-day working week.
Τhe full contractual working hours may be distributed on a five-week or six-day basis as provided for, amounting to eight (8) hours per day, whereas where a six-day working week system is applied, the full working hours shall amount to six (6) hours and forty (40) minutes per day.
The possibility of adopting a four-day full-time system of forty (40) hours per week and ten (10) hours per day is also provided by agreement between the employer and the employees.
This work time arrangement system may be implemented either over a six (6) month reference period within a one (1) calendar year, or over a one (1) calendar year reference period.
Employees who work during Sunday or during a public holiday are entitled to additional remuneration which amounts to 75% of 1/25 of statutory monthly or 75% of statutory daily wag
Workers who have worked more than five (5) hours on a Sunday are entitled to an alternate weekly rest of twenty four (24) hours at another working day of the week which starts from Sunday that they have worked. Workers who have worked for less than five (5) hours during a Sunday can request alternate rest of the same amount of hours that they have worked .
Overwork-Overtime Overwork
Overwork is defined as (legal) work performed more than the contractually agreed weekly working hours (40 hours) and until the legal working hours have been completed, i.e., 48 hours for a 6-day job or 45 hours for a 5-day job.
For each hour of overtime, the worker is entitled to the hourly rate of pay paid plus 20%.Overtime is defined as work performed by an employee that exceeds the time limits of the statutory weekly and daily working hours.
Overtime is employment more than 48 hours per week and 8 hours per day (for employees working six days a week) and more than 45 hours per week and 9 hours per day (for employees working five days a week).
In the case of legal overtime (provided that the legal conditions for working overtime), the employee is entitled to receive for each hour up to 150 hours per year a remuneration equal to the hourly wage paid plus 40%, while the remuneration for legal overtime beyond 150 hours per year is 60% of the hourly wage paid.
Rest period
Where work on a Sunday is permitted, then the employee must rest on another day of the week (Monday to Saturday), again for (24) consecutive hours.
Breaks
When the daily working time exceeds 4 consecutive hours, a break of at least 15 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes, shall be granted.
Annual leave
This leave is granted by the employer on a pro rata basis (percentage) based on the length of time the employee has worked for that employer. The proportion of leave granted is calculated based on an annual leave of 20 working days for a five-day working week and 24 working days for a six-day working week, corresponding to 12 months of continuous employment.
The employer is obliged, by the end of the first quarter of the next calendar year in which the employee was recruited, to grant the normal paid annual leave in instalments, in proportion to the time spent in the undertaking in which the employee was employed.
In the second calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to receive the annual leave with pay, calculated as above, in proportion to the length of his employment with the undertaking concerned. This leave shall be increased by one (1) working day for each year of employment in addition to the first, up to twenty-two (22) working days if the undertaking applies a five-day working week or up to twenty-six (26) working days if the undertaking applies a five-day working week system.
Annual leave payment (Holiday allowance)
During the period of leave, the employee is entitled to receive his or her “normal salary, i.e. the remuneration he or she would have received if he or she had worked in the company during the corresponding period. The remuneration shall include whatever is paid to the employee regularly and permanently in return for his work
In addition to holiday pay, employees are entitled to receive a ‘holiday allowance’, it is equal to the total holiday pay, subject to the restriction that it may not exceed, for those paid by salary, half the salary and for those paid by daily or hourly wages or rates, 13 days’ pay.
Statutory minimum VS Contractual salary Statutory minimum salary
From 1.5.2022, the statutory minimum wage and the statutory minimum daily wage, are as follows:
a) For employees, the minimum wage is set at seven hundred and thirteen euros (€713.00).
b) For manual workers, the minimum wage is set at thirty-one euros and eighty-five cents (€31.85).
It is emphasized that, individual employment contracts and collective employment contracts of any kind may not set monthly regular full-time remuneration or daily wage below the legally determined minimum wage and daily wage or the corresponding resulting ratio for part-time contracts
Contractual salary
Contractual wage is defined as the wage determined by the agreement between the employer and the employee in their individual employment contract (written or oral). The contractual wage is always higher than the legal wage because it cannot be lower than the legal wage threshold, which is now set by law. Any contrary individual agreement to pay less than the legal wage is null and void and has no effect.
Easter-Christmas bonus Easter bonus
All employees who are employed in the private sector on an indefinite or fixed-term contract are entitled to receive an Easter gift from their employer. In calculating the amount of the Easter Gift, the method of remuneration of the employees is taken into account, i.e. whether they are paid on a daily wage or a salary. The period for which the gift is calculated runs from 1 January to 30 April each year. Therefore, if a person works the whole of the above period, he or she is entitled to receive half a monthly salary if paid on a salary and 15 daily wages if paid on a daily wage.
Christmas bonus
All employees who are employed in the private sector on an indefinite or fixed-term, full-time or part-time basis by any employer are entitled to a Christmas bonus.
The period for which the Christmas bonus is calculated shall run from 1 May to 31 December each year. Thus, employees whose employment relationship with the employer lasted without interruption throughout the time period mentioned, i.e. from 1 May to 31 December of each year, are entitled to the full Gift equal to one (1) month’s salary for salaried employees and 25 days’ pay for salaried employees
Compensation for off site work
The Law provides daily allowance/compensation for off-site work, which is independent of the employee’s working hours and is related only to the number of the overnight stays, equal to 1/25 of the legal salary.
When employees working off-site are provided with food and housing by the employer at the place where they were sent, a percentage of 1/4 of the above compensation is paid to them (1/100) .
If only food is provided, ½ of the compensation is paid (1/50) .
If only housing is provided, 4/5 of the compensation is paid (4/125).
Finally, all employees who work off-site, are entitled to receive also all of their travel expenses, which include their transportation expenses (e.g., air tickets, taxis, e.t.c.) i.e., the actual expenses incurred.
The daily allowance is a compulsory provision and cannot be offset by the higher contractual salary unless an explicit agreement is signed by the employer and the employee.
Maternity-Parental leaves
Specific legislative provisions provide for special leave for the pregnant woman and childbirth, maternity, paternity and parental special leaves.
* The information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as at the time of writing. We have no obligation to update it. We accept no responsibility against any third party who is not a client of the firm and has not signed the terms of our engagement.