Key takeaways
- Law no. 5053/2023, in force as of 26 September 2023, transposes into Greek law EU Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU and simplifies procedures within the Labour Inspectorate’s information system, Ergani II.
Law no. 5053/2023, in force as of 26 September 2023, transposes into Greek law EU Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU and simplifies procedures within the Labour Inspectorate’s information system, Ergani II.
The key provisions of the new legislation are as follows:
- Employees must be notified of their basic terms of employment in written or electronic form (provided that an electronic copy can be saved and printed and the employer retains evidence of delivery). The basic terms of employment, which must be made known to the employee within one week from the commencement of employment, include: the parties’ identities, the place of work, the position and scope of work, the starting and end date, the duration and terms of the probationary period, and the employee’s salary and working hours and schedule. Similar provisions will apply to employees working abroad.
- The law allows an employee to have more than one employer, provided that the legal provisions on working hours and overtime are respected.
- The law clearly provides that the probationary period cannot be more than six months and, should it be passed, is considered as working time and so subject to all relevant employee rights. In case of fixed term employment agreements, the probationary period agreed should be proportionate to the duration of the agreement, meaning it cannot exceed one-quarter of the agreement’s total duration or six months, whichever is shorter.
- When an employee’s working hours are in general irregular, the employee is obliged to provide services on the condition that a) the services are provided within the reference time and days that have already been specified to the employee and b) the employee has been informed by the employer about the assignment of work in writing, or by SMS or email at least 24 hours in advance.
- The law clarifies that when an employee undertakes mandatory training, this is considered as working time and must take place within the employee’s working hours, if possible.
- The law specifies the circumstances in which the termination of employees exercising their legal rights is considered invalid.
- Employment agreements must be uploaded to the Ergani II platform and co-signed by the employee in one of the following ways: by wet signature, by using approved electronic signature, by using a digital certification issued through gov.gr or by approving the terms on MyErgani portal.
- A new, more simplified process is provided for employee dismissal. If an employee is absent without justification for more than five consecutive days and they receive a written notice from the employer, uploaded to the Ergani II platform, their absence will be treated as grounds for dismissal if they do not return to work within five days from the date of the employer’s notice.
- The new law provides incentives for businesses to use digital employment cards instead of predeclaring changes to employees’ working hours and overtime through Ergani II. This will facilitate the application of employment cards to employees working remotely, as well as mass audits by the Labour Inspectorate. In addition, employers are subject to a fine of €10,500 per employee in the case of a discrepancy between the time declared on the employment card and the actual time worked.
- The law also provides for changes by companies where employees work in shifts. Companies with employees working in shifts five days a week can also operate on a sixth day of the week in exceptional cases, with employees entitled to their standard hourly rate of pay plus an additional 40%. The Labour Inspectorate must also be notified in these cases.
- The salary increase rights of employees, which were suspended by Ministerial Decision no. 6/28-2-2012, will be reinstated as of 1 January 2024 subject to various conditions.
- The law provides for the creation of the Rebrain Greece platform to attract talent and connect employees working abroad with job opportunities in Greece.
Client Alert 2023-214