• EMPLOYEES

In accordance with Article 655 of the Civil Code, the time of payment of wages to the employee is alternatively and successively:

1. The time agreed between the employer and the employee.
2. Time set by market or business practice.
3. If it is a time wage, the day of expiry of each of the time intervals, on the basis of which it is calculated, or if it is a production wage, the day when the result of the agreed work is completed.
4. The day of termination of the employment relationship.

The above cases regulate the time of payment of the salary in general, i.e. any salary benefit, and not only the daily salary in the narrow sense.

• SKILLED WORKERS

In accordance with Article 2 of Royal Decree of 24 July 1920 (Government Gazette, Series I, No 189/21-8-1920), workers’ earnings should be paid ‘… or every week, including Saturday, or three times a month or twice a month, depending on the local custom or agreement, in working hours. This provision shall not apply to undertakings employing more than 200 workers ...’

The above provision is mandatory and therefore cannot be contractually altered to the detriment of the employee. Therefore, it is not allowed to pay the remuneration on later dates even if there is an agreement between the employer and the employee.

In accordance with Law 4254/2014, the employer is obliged to provide a payment note to the employees stating the agreed salary and the corresponding deductions, as well as the earnings that they would be entitled to receive under the relevant collective agreement. It can also be sent electronically.

If the illness lasted up to 3 days, whatever the number of days of sick leave in the calendar year, the employer pays 1/2 of the daily wage for each of the up to 3 days of absence of the employee. For the remaining days of this first sick leave (beyond 3 days), as well as for all the days of any subsequent sick leave in the same calendar year that lasts beyond 3 days, the employer pays the employee’s normal earnings, deducting what the employee received or was entitled to receive as sick pay from their insurance organisation for the period of absence due to sickness, whether this corresponds to working or non-working days.

The period in respect of which the entitlement to a salary is maintained may not exceed 1 month if the impediment occurred at least 1 year after the commencement of the contract, and half a month in any other case. The employee retains their right to the salary after at least 10 days of work.

The employee retains their right to half a month’s salary or a maximum of 1 month’s salary in the event of absence due to non-culpable impediment. If, at the change of the working year, the impediment continues for the same reason, the employee is not entitled to receive half a month's or a maximum of 1 month's salary again. They shall be entitled to receive their salary again on the basis of Articles 657-658 of the Civil Code only if, after the change in their working year, the impediment to work also changes.

The leave shall be granted as a whole. During the first two years the leave shall be granted in parts and from the third calendar year onwards as a whole.

The time of granting the leave is subject to agreement between the employer and the employee. The employer is obliged to grant the leave within two (2) months of the date of the request and, in any case, within the first quarter of the following calendar year.

Splitting of leave is allowed in the third and subsequent years, in accordance with point 3 subpara. IA.14 of Law 4093/2012 as follows:

1. In two periods in case of a particularly serious or urgent need of the undertaking. The first period of leave may not include less than six (6) or five (5) working days (6‑day/5‑day working week).
2. More than two periods of which one must comprise at least twelve (12) or ten (10) working days following a written request by the employee to the employer. Employees’ written applications must be kept in the undertaking for a period of 5 years.

The annual ordinary leave must be granted during the year it was earned and in any event up to the first quarter of the following calendar year. An employer who does not grant the employee their annual holiday until the end of the above period shall be obliged to pay them the corresponding earnings for the leave days. After that time, therefore, the claim for leave shall be converted into a monetary claim.

In the event of termination of the employment contract during the period of short-time work unilaterally imposed by the employer, the severance pay shall be calculated on the basis of the normal remuneration for the last month on a full-time basis.

Employees working intermittently or on a rotational basis will receive 1 day’s pay for every 8 days worked between 1 May and 31 December as a Christmas Allowance.

The basis for calculating the Christmas Allowance are the earnings of 10 December. For employees whose employment relationship was terminated before 10 December, the earnings of the day of termination of the relationship shall be taken into account.

The Easter Allowance must be paid by Holy Wednesday.

In accordance with Ministerial Decision 19040/1981, the calculation basis for the Easter Allowance are the earnings paid on the 15th day before Easter.

The compulsory public holidays established by law (Article 60 of Law 4808/2021), during which all industrial, craft, commercial and professional work, as well as the employment of salaried workers, is prohibited, are the following:

1. 1 January;
2. Epiphany (6 January);
3. 25 March;
4. Easter Monday;
5. 1 May;
6. Assumption (15 August);
7. 28 October;
8. Christmas Day (25 December);
9. Boxing Day.

Those who are paid a daily wage and are not employed will receive the usual daily wage. Employees who will be employed on this day are entitled to receive, if they are paid a daily wage, the usual daily wage with an increase of 75% calculated on their statutory hourly wage, and if they are paid on a monthly wage, only a 75% increase calculated on their statutory hourly wage. In both cases, the above earnings will be calculated for the number of hours worked.

Pursuant to sub-paragraph IA.10.1.a. of Law 4093/2012, during the hours when shops are not open, the employment of salaried workers is allowed, but all transactions within the shops are prohibited. Until the amendment made by Law 4093/2012, employment of salaried workers and all transactions within the shops during the hours when the shops were not open, was prohibited.

The wedding leave is granted to the employee once for the same marriage, i.e. either for the civil marriage or for the religious marriage, since both types are equivalent in respect of the Greek State. The celebration of a religious marriage after a civil marriage constitutes a solemnisation of the first one and not a new marriage.

The days of compulsory absence of female employees before and after childbirth (8 weeks before and 9 weeks after childbirth) are considered as regular working time and are included in the calculation of Easter Allowance. (Joint Ministerial Decision 19040/1981 of the Ministry of Finance and Labour, Article 1).

In accordance with Article 23 of Law 4342/2015, a working father has an independent right to use childcare leave (reduced work time) and under the conditions provided for by the National General Collective Labour Agreements, regardless of the type of activity the mother performs, even when she is not working.

In the case of termination with notice, the point in time of termination is the time of the notice. Thus, notice of termination is not permitted during the period of protection of pregnant women or women who gave birth recently (18 months).

Snowfalls, when they are of unusual form and intensity, may be regarded as an event of force majeure, that is, an event whose consequences could not be foreseen and prevented even by taking measures of extreme diligence and prudence. It follows that, for an employer who, as a result of snowfalls, is unable to operate their business and to accept any services offered by their employees, snowfalls may be regarded as a force majeure event which, under Article 656 of the Civil Code, exempts them from the obligation to pay earnings.

The inability of the employees, due to the unusual form and intensity of the snowfall, to come to the employer’s undertaking which was operating and to provide their work, constitutes for the employees an important reason, not due to their fault (CC 657), which entitles them to claim earnings for the period of time during which the snowfall made it impossible for them to provide their work.

Pursuant to Article 10 of the National General Collective Labour Agreement of 24 May 2004, an unpaid leave of 10 days is granted by the employer on consecutive days or in stages, irrespective of the age of the beneficiary, to those participating in a programme for a master’s degree of at least 1 year of study or a doctoral degree from a Higher Education Institution and a Technological Educational Institute in Greece or abroad. It is valid for up to 2 years.