Changes in Labour Law in Greece 

The year 2025 marked a milestone for Labour Law. This is because, on the one hand, the new Labour Law Code entered into force, Presidential Decree (hereinafter “P.D.”) 62/2025, and, on the other hand, Law (hereinafter “L.”) 5239/2025, introduced a broad set of interventions directly related to the core of everyday working life.

On 11 July 2025, P.D. 62/2025 (Government Gazette A’ 121/11.07.2025) was published, repealing the previous P.D. 80/2022, consolidating and modernising labour legislation, while also shaping a more transparent, functional and protective framework for both employees and enterprises. This legislative act is structured into three books and consolidates in a single text the most important provisions concerning individual (Articles 1–367) as well as collective labour relations (Articles 368–490), health and safety at work, as well as the general supervision of the working environment (Articles 491–586). It is based on 8 pillars, aiming at the modernisation of the labour framework, the simplification of procedures, the support of employees through the maximum possible safeguarding of their rights, the facilitation of businesses, as well as the shaping of a transparent and modern working environment. As regards these pillars, they concern, more specifically, easy and fast recruitment, the reduction of bureaucracy, the modernisation of labour provisions, as well as the strengthening of employees and health and safety in the workplace. Further pillars include harmonisation with ILO International Labour Conventions, the functional strengthening of the Labour Inspectorate and certain social security provisions.

First of all, the concepts of the employment contract and the employment relationship are now defined in a unified and clear manner (Articles 1–15), in conjunction with the obligations of the parties. At the same time, the probationary period, its duration, as well as the terms and rights of employees under this specific regime are determined (Article 2). Furthermore, detailed regulations are provided on working hours, overtime, as well as employment on Sundays and public holidays (Articles 187–255). In this context, an innovation of the new Code is the introduction of the Digital Work Card for monitoring employees’ working time and overtime, which is directly connected, in real time, with the information system “ERGANI II” (Article 580). Accordingly, an obligation is introduced to upload to this system, inter alia, the basic terms of employment, the individual employment contract (Articles 578–581), as well as any modifications of working hours (Article 581). Of particular importance are also the establishment of protective measures for the minimum predictability of working hours (Article 190) and the regulations on exceptional employment on the sixth day, under a five-day working week regime (Articles 191–192). At the same time, the new provisions regarding violence and harassment in the workplace are of exceptional significance (Articles 568–569).

Additionally, the provisions relating to leave are considered significant, with the introduction of greater flexibility for parents with children up to 12 years of age (Article 234), as well as with the extension of special maternity protection to same-sex spouses-parents (Article 238). The new P.D. also contributes to strengthening health and safety at work, through the provision for the safety technician and the occupational physician (Articles 491–545), as well as through the special, now systematised regulation of occupational accidents { work accidents} (Articles 546–560). At the same time, the role of the Labour Inspectorate is substantially upgraded, as the establishment of an independent authority is provided for, which will replace SEPE and conduct objective inspections (Articles 562–576). Finally, the new legislative act includes for the first time provisions concerning trade unions (Articles 368–386) and employers’ organisations (Articles 387–393), collective labour agreements (Articles 394–406), as well as mediation and arbitration in labour law (Articles 408–414). Particular emphasis is also placed on European works councils (Articles 451–477) and participation in the European company (Articles 478–490), a fact which underlines the collective dimension of labour law.

As announced in the introduction, on 17.10.2025 Law 5239/2025 (Government Gazette A’ 178/17.10.2025) was published, which does not merely constitute yet another fragmentary amendment of individual provisions of the new Labour Law Code. On the contrary, it attempts a systemic reorganisation of certain critical procedures, with axes being the strengthening of predictability and transparency regarding terms of employment, the protection of employees from abusive practices, the simplification and acceleration of recruitment procedures and the declaration of relevant employment data, the promotion of flexibility in the regulation of working time, as well as the integration into employment relationships of modern digital tools, such as the upgraded platform “ERGANI II” and the digital work card (Articles 1 and 2). Of course, the regulatory foundation, as well as the “common point” of references of this law, remains the new Labour Law Code, P.D. 62/2025.

First of all, this new law aims at reducing bureaucracy, by merging and unifying, in enterprises employing more than 20 employees, the policies for combating violence and harassment in the workplace, as well as for the management of internal complaints (Article 3). In the same direction, the employer’s obligation to keep at the workplace the forms of individual terms of employment, the Annual Staff Table (E4), the Leave Table (E11), the leave book and the payroll slips of employees is abolished (Article 17). Furthermore, a new special electronic application for smartphones is created, named “Ergani”, through which employers use the information system “ERGANI II” (Article 19). As an institutional consequence of this regulation, the fact emerges that declarations, changes and control of the employment relationship are now treated as part of a unified electronic environment, where employee information does not depend on the good faith or diligence of the employer, but is organised in an accessible and verifiable manner.

The second pillar of Law 5239/2025 is the simplification of recruitment procedures, which is pursued through the new possibility of informing employees of the basic terms of employment via the application “MyErgani”, as well as through the employer’s obligation to upload to the information system “ERGANI II”, before the commencement of work, the Digital Declaration of Commencement of Employment, with all its essential terms (Article 20). In addition, for any change to the latter, the employer submits electronically to “ERGANI II” the Digital Declaration of Change of Employment Relationship Details, which must be accepted by the respective employee. Finally, the obligation to notify the Labour Inspectorate of the part-time employment contract within eight (8) days of its conclusion is abolished (Article 6).

With regard to working time, the maximum daily overtime limit is increased from 3 to 4 hours (Article 7). Consequently, the employee may be employed daily for up to 13 hours even by a single employer. Of course, the employee’s good-faith refusal to work outside working hours does not constitute a lawful ground for termination of the employment contract, nor a starting point for a detrimental change or adverse discrimination (Article 16). In this way, the concept of “consent” to overtime work acquires, in practice, regulatory content, as it is linked to the prohibition of retaliation. Moreover, the possibility of overtime employment is also offered in rotational work. Furthermore, significant is the new possibility of hiring employees to cover urgent needs with an employment contract, full-time or part-time, fixed-term, of a duration of up to 2 days per week, through a special electronic “Fast track Recruitment” application (Article 21). It is also worth noting that any violation of the provided general terms and conditions may lead to its classification as undeclared work.

As regards annual leave, it is provided that its granting must be declared in “ERGANI II” within the next calendar month following the month of such granting (Article 9). At the same time, the possibility of splitting leave into more than two periods is provided, under conditions (Article 10). The regulation generally reflects a more “person-centred” approach, especially with regard to employees with family-care obligations, without, of course, abandoning the fundamental axiom of leave as actual rest.

A turning point of the new law are also the regulations on the Digital Work Card, which is gradually emerging as a mechanism for documenting actual working time. These regulations have a dual purpose, on the one hand more substantial control of working hours, and on the other hand the reduction of paperwork that is now covered by electronic data. Furthermore, the possibility is offered to conclude a written agreement with employees for flexible arrival of up to 120 minutes daily, while the time of preparation of employees upon arrival at and departure from work is provided for, which does not constitute working time (Article 22). In particular, when preparation does not take place at the workplace, the card marking may be made within 10 minutes before taking up work, whereas when it takes place at the workplace, within 30 minutes of arrival. It is, however, stipulated that the repeated recording of 3 unjustified single markings per month per employee, due to negligence, constitutes a reason for inspection by the Labour Inspectorate within the framework of risk analysis. At the level of sanctions, a non-activated digital card, in the event of an on-site inspection, entails an administrative fine of €10,500 per employee, while in case of repetition of the omission within a period of 12 months, a temporary suspension of the operation of the business is additionally provided for. At the basis of the regulation, an effort to balance operational functionality and protection against “invisible” working time is discernible.

It is important to note that, with regard to part-time/rotational work, the procedural part of posting-submission of specific forms within a deadline is abolished, however the written contract remains essential. It is emphasised that the absence of a written agreement may lead to the establishment of a presumption of full-time employment. Indeed, in special cases, such as the unilateral imposition of rotational work, specific notification actions are provided for.

Furthermore, extensive changes are made in the field of health and safety, where the classification of enterprises by sector of economic activity into risk categories is updated (Article 29), while at the same time the framework for the exercise of the duties of the safety technician is tightened (Articles 30–32). Moreover, the employer is obliged to provide employees with first aid training in CPR and the Heimlich manoeuvre (Article 39). With regard to notification, in the event of serious injury or death, mandatory notification to the nearest police authorities is provided for, while in the case of illness due to work, notification must be made both to the Labour Inspectorate and to e-EFKA, within 5 days from the employer’s information (Article 38). Furthermore, the recommendations of the occupational physician and the safety technician are provided to the employer in writing and are recorded in a special book kept electronically (Article 34). In addition, the role of the Employees’ Health and Safety Committees (Article 27) and the Internal Employee Protection and Prevention Services (Article 36) is strengthened, as well as that of the safety coordinator, for whom a minimum employment time is also established. Furthermore, the information system IRIDANOS is created for the health and safety of employees (Articles 40 and 41).

The new law also contains provisions on voluntary departure (Article 14), as the employee may now submit the notification thereof himself, while it is expressly provided that the employer’s failure to take timely actions may reclassify the termination as an “irregular dismissal”, with the corresponding consequences (Article 15). Significant are also the provisions on parental leave allowance, maternity leave and dismissal, the Labour Inspectorate, as well as certain social security regulations (Articles 11–13).

By way of conclusion, it is observed that both the new Labour Law Code and Law 5239/2025, which amends and improves the former, have as their ultimate purpose the reduction of formality and the increase of documentation of the actions that take place within the framework of employment relationships. These are legislative acts that establish the idea that labour protection can no longer rely solely on abstract prohibitions and rights, but requires mechanisms of transparency, documentation and digital traceability. For businesses, therefore, the challenge is not simply located in the scrupulous observance of specific, standardised procedures, but in the formation of internal systems (indicatively HR) that respond to the required accurate documentation. For employees, on the other hand, the digital enhancement of transparency is accompanied by the need for familiarisation and active participation on their part (indicatively, declarations in the government-operated myErgani platform).