GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Theodoros Skouzos and Natalia Skoulidou, Iason Skouzos TaxLaw
• intervening by any means in the exercise of the employees’ general assemblies. 10.2 Employee Compensation Greek labour law provides a comprehensive frame - work for employee compensation and protection, including during mergers and acquisitions. Compen - sation typically includes salary, equity-based benefits, pensions and statutory allowances. Salaries must meet the statutory minimum wage set by ministerial decision under Law 4172/2013, and overtime is regu - lated by Law 4808/2021, which sets conditions and premium rates. Equity schemes such as stock options exist mainly in multinationals and are subject to specific legal and tax rules. Social security contributions, governed by Law 4387/2016, require employers to contribute 22.29% and employees 13.87% of gross salary, with pensions based on service years and average earnings. Employees benefit from statutory rights, including paid annual leave (minimum 20 days), sick leave com - pensation and maternity/paternity leave. These pro - tections derive from instruments such as Presidential Decree 88/1999, Law 2112/1920 and Law 4808/2021. In corporate transformations, Law 4601/2019 ensures that all employment contracts transfer automatical - ly to the acquiring entity without any loss of rights. Overall, Greece’s labour framework aims to secure fair compensation and maintain employee protections, particularly during restructuring events. 10.3 Employment Protection In the event of a corporation being transferred, the rel - evant impact on labour relations is regulated by Arti - cle 4 (1) of Presidential Decree No 178/2002, through which Greece has adopted Directive 98/50/EC. In par - allel, Article 6 (1) of Law No 2112/1920, Article 9 (1) of Royal Decree No 16 of 18 July 1920 and Article 8 of the Presidential Decree of 8 December 1928 (regard - ing the protection of the rights of employees of public order, where no waiver of relevant rights is permitted) are also in force. By combination of the above-mentioned provisions, it is provided that:
• the protection of the employee is not limited to the protection of the right of compensation according to Law 2112/1920; • the new employer assumes all the pre-existing employer’s obligations; • the labour relationship is preserved in its entirety; and • the employment position is secured, with the employee’s demotion being forbidden. 11. Intellectual Property and Data Protection 11.1 Intellectual Property Considerations for Approval of FDI Intellectual property (IP) is an important factor in Greece’s FDI assessments under Regulation (EU) 2019/452. Although Greece is still refining its national screening framework, it fully participates in the EU co- operation mechanism, which evaluates FDI for secu - rity and public order risks, particularly where sensitive technologies, critical infrastructure or valuable IP are involved. Investments linked to patents, trade secrets, algo - rithms and other proprietary technologies are reviewed with attention to the investor’s background, the type of IP at stake, and any national security implications. The Ministry of Development and Investments serves as Greece’s national contact point, co-ordinating notifications to the European Commission and other member states. This mechanism enables information sharing and joint scrutiny for transactions affecting strategic technologies or infrastructure. Where sensitive IP is implicated, Greek authori - ties consult EU partners before deciding whether to approve, block or condition an investment to protect national or EU-wide security interests. Sectors most closely scrutinised include technology, healthcare, defence, energy, telecommunications, cybersecurity and transport, reflecting their importance to national security and economic stability. 11.2 Intellectual Property Protections Greece offers a strong IP protection framework aligned with EU law and international treaties. As an EU mem -
282 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook