Individual employment relations in Greece

Requirements regarding an employment contract

The formal requirements to enter into an employment relationship are a written job contract between the employer and the employee, an obligation by the employer to submit details of the contract to the electronic database of the Ministry of Labour (Ergani) and the recruitment of the employee on the day of hiring. The minimum working age is 15 years.

Dismissal and termination procedures

In fixed-term job contracts, the termination of the employment relationship is automatic when the employment period is finished. The employer is not required to give written notice to the employee and no compensation is given.

In indefinite job contracts, the employment relationship is terminated if the employer or employee renounces the job contract, if the employer (under restrictions) or the employee dies or if there is common agreement between the employer and the employee, usually due to retirement.

The termination of the job contract by the employer (dismissal) can be done either with a notification period determined by years of employment (whereby the employee takes 50% of the compensation amount) or without notification (whereby the employee takes the full amount of compensation). In this case, a written dismissal notice is required, together with the instalment of the compensation. According to Law No. 4093/2012, the full compensation amount is determined based on the years of seniority with the same employer, and the calculation is based on the regular earnings of the employee’s last month of employment. The minimum amount of compensation is equal to 2 months’ salary for seniority of over one year, while the maximum amount is equal to 12 months’ salary for seniority of 16 years or more.

Entitlements and obligations

Parental, maternity and paternity leave

In Greece, there are provisions in the private sector for maternity leave, paternity leave, childcare leave and parental leave.

Maternity leave (basic) is a total of 17 weeks (8 weeks before childbirth and 9 weeks afterwards). The employee’s salary is paid for 15 days if she has worked for the company for 1 year; the salary is paid for 1 month if she has worked for the company for more than 1 year.

Maternity leave (special) is a total of six months and is granted after maternity leave and before the beginning of the use of childcare leave.

A new law (Law No. 4808/2021) extends the relevant maternity leave remuneration and allowances to women who have adopted a child up to eight years of age and to women who have a child through the procedure of surrogacy.

A new law (Law No. 4808/2021, Article 27) provides paternity leave for fathers of newly born children equal to 14 working days paid by the employer. This can be used in one of two ways. The first 2 days are taken before the expected date of birth and the remaining days are taken within 30 days from the date of birth. Alternatively, all days are taken after the date of birth. Before Law No. 4808/2021 was enacted, paternity leave consisted of two days of paid leave at the time of the child’s birth.

A new law (Law No. 4808/2021) provides parental leave of four months, granted continuously or in parts for both parents (according to the employee’s application and relevant consultation with the employer) until the child reaches eight years of age. For the first two months of parental leave, the DYPA must pay a parental leave allowance equal to the minimum statutory salary on a monthly basis to each parent. The only condition is that the employee must have been employed by the same employer for one year. If there are more children, the parents have the right to take leave for them as well, as long as one year of actual employment with the same employer has elapsed since the end of the leave granted for the previous child. Exceptionally, parents of twins, triplets or more multiple children are entitled to receive parental leave for each child separately, intermittently or even continuously, without a year of actual service intervening. In the case of the adoption or fostering of a child up to eight years of age, parental leave is granted from the time the child joins the family. Alternatively, upon the employee’s request, parental leave may be granted in the form of reduced daily hours or on leave days, without prejudice to the employee’s right to receive the parental leave allowance.

Before Law No. 4808/2021 was enacted, parental leave was four months per child for each parent until the child reached six years of age. The leave was unpaid.

In the case of childcare leave, a parent can take time off work with full payment up to an estimated period of between three and three and a half months, either by working fewer hours per day or by taking all the leave at once.

Statutory leave arrangements

Sick leave

The employee can claim half pay for the first 3 days of sickness and full pay for 15 days for their first year in employment or 30 days for any year thereafter, less the amount that the employee receives from their social security provider.

The employee’s illness, as accepted by court jurisprudence, constitutes a significant reason for the employee's absence from work without incurring adverse consequences for them. Being absent from work due to a short-term illness is not considered a termination of the employment contract by the employee.

A ‘short-term’ illness is considered one that lasts: a) 1 month for those who have served up to 4 years; b) 3 months for those who have served more than 4 and up to 10 years; c) 4 months for those who have served more than 10 years; d) 6 months for those who have served more than 15 years (Article 3 of Law No. 4558/1930).

Length of absence that constitutes a ‘short-term’ illness (Ασθένεια βραχείας διάρκειας)

Exceeding the limits of the short-term illness does not, on its own, result in the automatic termination of the employment relationship. Instead, the termination of the employment contract is judged in each specific case by the competent courts.

Retirement age

In general, there is a distinction in retirement provisions for employees who began paying social insurance before 1993 and those who started paying social insurance more recently. In line with Law No. 3863/2010 and after a transitional period, from 1 January 2013 onwards, new requirements for retirement were established.

The minimum requirements for retirement with the full pension amount are being 67 years of age for both men and women with at least 15 years of work or being 62 years of age for both men and women with 40 years of work.

For a reduced pension amount, the retirement age is 62 years for both women and men. There are various exemptions from this rule for some professional categories and for people with disabilities.

More recently, Law Nos. 4336/2015 and 4387/2016 and the related ministry circulars for their application stipulate that, from 1 January 2022, the general age limits for full and reduced pensions will apply to all, namely

• 67 years of age for a full pension if 20 years of social security payments (6,000 work days) have been made

• 62 years of age for a full pension if 40 years of social security payments have been made

• 62 years of age for a partial pension

However, the pension rights established up to 18 August 2015 are not affected and can be exercised at any time. The regulations exempt workers in heavy and arduous professions and workers who retire as blind insured people, as well as insured people who are mothers or widowed fathers of disabled offspring who are not capable of work.

In addition, in May 2016, Law No. 4387/2016 introduced an extensive reform of the social security and pension system. The new legislation establishes a unique social security fund for all (the National Social Security Fund (Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, EFKA)); establishes the national pension of €384 at the age of 67 years; increases social contributions for employers, employees and the self-employed; introduces a new calculating method; and reduces the amounts of the basic and supplementary pensions.