GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Semina Zavitsanou, Yannis Ragos, Maria Siraga and Dorianna Sarri, POTAMITISVEKRIS
workplace investigations, particularly in cases involving alleged violence and harassment. She also represents clients before courts and competent labour authorities in employment-related disputes.
POTAMITISVEKRIS 11 Omirou Street 10672
Athens Greece
Tel: +30 210 33 80000 Fax: +30 210 33 80020
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Introduction In Greece, HR internal investigations are not governed by a single statute or by a comprehensive, codified legal framework. They remain, to a significant extent, a largely unregulated field, shaped in a fragmented manner and left to the employer’s discretion, within the limits of managerial right and the mutual duty of loyalty and good faith owed by both employer and employees. The applicable regulatory framework is derived cumu - latively: from rules of disciplinary law (as reflected in internal employment regulations), from specific statu - tory obligations relating to the prevention and man - agement of workplace violence or harassment, from the whistle-blower protection regime, and from the compliance practices adopted by businesses. The outcome is twofold. On the one hand, employers enjoy considerable flexibility in designing investigation procedures. On the other hand, there is an increased risk of procedural failure where investigations are not conducted carefully, consistently, proportionately, and on the basis of proper documentation.
Disciplinary Law as the Historical Starting Point Historically, the starting point for internal investiga - tions in the Greek employment context has been the company’s disciplinary framework, insofar as this is reflected in internal employment regulations. It should be noted that companies employing more than 70 employees are required to adopt internal employment regulations while companies with fewer employees are allowed to implement such regulations. Such regulations constitute the internal “law” of the under - taking during the performance of the employment relationship and are recognised as an autonomous source of labour law (similar, in function, to CLA or arbitration awards) and as a supplement to the indi - vidual employment agreements. Within this framework, the imposition of disciplinary sanctions presupposes that the disciplinary offence – and, by extension, the disciplinary procedure itself – is expressly provided for in the internal employment regulation. The traditional structure is straightforward: (i) classification of disciplinary offences; (ii) provision for disciplinary sanctions; (iii) description of the proce - dure (even at a basic level); and (iv) compliance with the principles of the right to be heard, proportionality, and equal treatment.
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