Easily manage employment in Greece

After working with an employer for an entire year, employees are entitled to a maximum of 26 days of paid time off annually. The final figure depends on their tenure with the employer’s organization. Employees who work a five-day week get 20 prorated days of vacation annually, which increases by a day, up to 22 days, every year the employee stays with the same employer. Employees who have been in the labor force for 12 years, with 10 of those spent with one employer will be entitled to 25 days of paid leave annually. Leave entitlements are calculated at a rate of 50% of the employee’s normal wages.

There are six mandatory public holidays and nine others that employers can recognize independently. If employees are expected to work on a holiday, a bonus equivalent to a minimum of 75% of their normal wage must be paid in addition to the base wages.

Employees are entitled to 50% of their wages for the first three days of an illness, paid by the employer; employees can draw sickness benefits from the social security office, starting on the fourth day of an illness and lasting up to 720 days, depending on how long the employee worked in the previous year.

Female employees are entitled to 17 weeks of maternity leave, starting eight weeks prior to delivery. During the leave, such employees will draw a maternity benefit equivalent to a month’s wages, or just 15 days, if the employee has worked with the employer for less than a year.

Parental leave is granted to parents to enable them to share the responsibility of taking care of their young children without losing their jobs. This policy exists across all EU Member States. In Greece it is called Άδεια χωρίς αποδοχές. Fathers are entitled to 14 days of paid leave upon delivery of a child and are able to have some of their partner’s maternity leave transferred to them. Employees with children aged 16 and below are entitled to take time off to assess their children’s educational performance, up to a maximum of four days annually.

- Adoption Leave: Adoptive and foster parents can take three months of paid leave, starting when adoption or fostering proceedings are finalized. - Education Leave: Employees who are schooling at a public school or university can request up to 30 days off work to sit for examinations once they’ve worked with an employer for at least an entire year. - Bereavement Leave: Employees are permitted to take two working days off in event of the death of a close relative. - Civil duty: During elections, employees can take anywhere from 1 – 3 days off work to vote at their designated polling station. - Carer’s Leave: Employees can take up to 30 unpaid days to cater to a sick, injured, or hospitalized child.