GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anastasia Dritsa, Elisabeth Eleftheriades, Vicky Kriketou, Irene Kyriakides, Ioanna Kyriazi, Victoria Mertikopoulou, Claire Pavlou and Panagiotis Pothos, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm
avoid consecutive fixed-term contracts being char - acterised as indefinite-term contracts. Conclusion of Employment Agreements There is no general legal requirement for employment agreements to be concluded in writing, except in spe - cific cases (eg, part-time or temporary employment, Although employment contracts do not generally need to be in writing, employers must provide employees with written information on their essential employ - ment terms (job description, remuneration, working time, etc) within specific time limits (one week/month, depending on the information). 4.3 Working Time Maximum Working Hours renewal of fixed-term contracts). Essential Terms of Employment The statutory working time in Greece is eight hours per day, 40 hours per week, for employees under a five-day weekly work schedule, and six hours and 40 minutes per day (40 hours per week) under a six-day schedule, except for certain employee categories with reduced working hours. The total weekly working time may not exceed, over a reference period of up to four months, an average of 48 hours, including overtime. Overwork Legal working hours may be exceeded by up to five hours per week (one hour per day under a five-day weekly schedule) due to workload. Under a six-day weekly schedule, overwork covers work performed between the 41st and 48th hour. Overwork is paid with a 20% surcharge on the hourly wage (unless an offset clause is included in the employee’s contract allowing set-off against the agreed salary exceeding the statutory minimum wage). Overtime Any work above the 45-hour limit and nine hours per day is “overtime”. Employees may perform overtime of up to four hours per day and up to 150 hours per year. Every hour of legal overtime is paid with a 40% surcharge on the hourly paid wage.
Overtime not complying with the statutory formalities and approval procedures is considered “illegal”, and employees are entitled to the hourly wage plus 120% for such overtime. A special permit for overtime beyond the 150 hour limit may be granted by the Ministry of Labor, if justi - fied for specific reasons and extraordinary work. Such overtime is paid with a 60% surcharge on the hourly wage. The provision of paid time off in lieu of statutory over - work or overtime compensation is not permitted. The parties may agree that the part of the employee’s salary exceeding the statutory minimum can be offset with overwork compensation; however, such offset - ting is not allowed for overtime compensation. Work During Sundays/Public Holidays Employees may not work on Sundays or public holi - days, unless legally exempt. Compensation amounts to 75% on top of the legal hourly wage. In urgent cas - es, such work may be authorised by the authorities; otherwise, it is considered as “illegal”. If work exceeds five hours on Sunday, the employee is entitled to a day off. Work on the Sixth Day For employees under a five-day weekly schedule, work on the sixth day is not permitted and the employ - ees are entitled to receive an increase of 30% on their normal hourly wage. By exception, employees of undertakings of continu - ous operation with rotating shift systems, or undertak - ings which are not of continuous operation but may operate on a six-day (24/5 or 24/6) shift basis, may be required to work on the sixth day. Prior notification to the Labour Inspectorate and registration through the ERGANI II platform are required, and work is limited to eight hours (no overwork/overtime permitted), and is remunerated with a 40% surcharge on the hourly wage. Night Work Night work is from 22.00 until 06.00 and is compen - sated with a 25% increase in the hourly wage.
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