GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Maria Antoniadou and Sofia Chrysakopoulou, Machas & Partners
undertaking user is subject to the digital work card system based on its primary business activity, the loaned employees are also required to use the digital work card. Flexible employee arrival times For businesses that are integrated into the digital work card system and have activated its use, a flex - ible attendance of up to 120 minutes may be grant - ed, upon written agreement between employer and employee (typically reflected in a contractual clause), starting from the declared start of working hours in the digital organisation of working time and onwards. Through this possibility, the obligation for companies to amend the digital working hours of employees is eliminated if their arrival is after the declared starting time but within the agreed flexible attendance period. Option to choose a reporting system for recording schedule changes From 1 July 2024, businesses that have activated the digital card, beyond the possibility of selecting the pre-announcement system (ie, pre-declaring changes or modifications to the organisation of working time, or overtime work), now have the option of selecting a reporting system, provided that the digital card is marked at the start and end of the working day. Each enterprise, up to the last day of the current month, declares its selected system for the upcoming period via the “Digital Declaration of a Pre-Announcement or Reporting System for Recording Working Schedule Changes, Working Time Organisation and Overtime”. The selected period may not be shorter than one cal - endar month. Arrangement of Working Time Working time management is a modern way of organ - ising work, which aims at flexibility and adapting working hours to the needs of the company and the employee. This concept differs from the traditional units of measurement of working time, such as the day and the week, and introduces broader reference periods, such as the month or the year. The arrange - ment does not increase total working time, but allows increased hours worked in one period to be offset against reduced hours in another, while keeping the average number of hours worked constant.
It is a tool that serves the overall valuation of work, without affecting the employee’s remuneration, pro - vided that the average working hours are respected. The basic principle of the arrangement is the possibil - ity of defining periods of increased and reduced work - ing time, with offsetting of working hours within the reference period. The working time may not exceed 40 hours per week on average, and, for enterprises with shorter weekly working hours, this shorter work - ing time shall apply. The arrangement of working time occurs in two basic types, as follows. • Arrangement with reference periods shorter than one year: in this case, the period of increased and reduced working hours must not exceed six months within a calendar year. The two periods are freely determined, provided that the total working hours can be balanced within the six-month period. • Arrangement with a yearly reference period: the period of increased work may last up to 32 weeks (ie, approximately eight months), while the remain - ing time of the year is used for reduced work. The maximum allowable overtime under this system is 256 hours per year. Implementation of the arrangement is subject to the following substantive conditions: • maximum daily working time – during the period of increased work, working hours may not exceed ten hours per day (two additional hours beyond the standard eight-hour shift); • mandatory rest – employees must be granted at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest; and • collective or individual agreement – if there is no trade union or collective agreement between the union and the employer, the working time arrange - ment system may be implemented upon written individual agreement between the employer and the employee. It should be noted that the arrangement of working time must not affect the employee’s rights. In the event of termination of employment before the end of the reference period, the employee is entitled to
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