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Changes have been made recently to labour relations situation in Greece by Laws 3846/2010, 3863/2010 and 3899/2010 for the purpose of making working time more flexible. These laws lay down the terms and conditions for part-time work and rotating employment, tele-working is regulated, conditions are laid down for the organisation of working time depending on each individual undertaking’s own needs, and there are provisions about temporarily laying off employees.

Other reforms relate to the shortening of the notice period when employment contracts are terminated by the employer, the introduction of a 12-month probationary period, the right of employees to insure themselves, mass redundancies (with changes in the quotas having been made), the loan of employees, and a reduction in the pay for extra work and overtime. These matters are discussed in more detail below:

Law 3846/2010

1. Article 1 of Law 2639/1998 is replaced and now reads, "the agreement between the employer and the and the employee for the provision of services or work for a fixed or indefinite time, especially in cases where work is paid for per work unit (outsourcing), tele-working, work at home, shall be presumed to conceal an employment contract provided that such work is provided in person exclusively or primarily to the same employer for 9 consecutive months”. Consequently, this provision introduces a refutable presumption that there is an employment contract, which means that the burden of proof has shifted. Consequently the employer now bears the burden of providing that it is not an employment contract but some other form of contract.

2. Article 2(1) of this Law also contains a definition of part-time work, as employment shorter than the normal working time on a daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, in other words fewer hours than the normal working time. The normal working time is computed based on a comparable full-time employee in the same undertaking (Article 2(2)).

The agreement reached by the employer – employee, whether reached at the outset or at a subsequent point in time, must be in writing. The written form is constitutive of the part-time work contract (and failure to comply with this formality will render the contract invalid). Moreover, the part-time work contract must be notified to the local Labour Inspectorate offices within 8 days, otherwise it will be presumed as concealing a full-time employment contract.

3. Article 2(3) relates to rotating employment and defines it as employment on fewer days each week or fewer weeks each month or fewer months each year or a combination thereof, compared to full-time work.

Once again, the requirements relating to conclusion of a contract for part-time work also apply here.

However, the employer can reserve the right to introduce a system of rotating employment if his business activities decline in extent, rather than terminating employment contracts. The duration of such rotating employment cannot exceed 9 months in any one calendar year, and prior disclosure of the plans and consultations with employee’s lawful representatives is essential before proceeding with this.

This amendment was introduced by Article 17(1) of Law 3899/2010.

Important provisions of law relating to part-time work, rotating employment being one specific form of part-time employment according to Article 2(7) of Law 3846/2010) include the appointment of employee representatives who must be consulted before rotating employment arrangements can be implemented (Article 2(4)); the invalidity of the termination of the employment relationship if the employee does not accept the employer’s proposal for part-time work (Article 2(8); the obligation of the employee to provide work after the part-time working time is over if that is necessary, with the exception if he is not able or if additional work is a normal practice; the abolition of augments to the pay of part-time employees (Article 2(9) and (11) as amended by Law 3899/2010 apart from lawful augments for work on Sundays, official holidays, night work (Article 2(6)); the option given to salaried employees to request a shift to part-time work after having worked one calendar year (at undertakings which employ more than 20 people) and a return to full-time work later (Article 2(12)); while there are also express provisions for the equal treatment of part-time and full-time employees within the same undertaking (Article 2(13) and (14)).

Lastly express provision is also made for the provisions on part-time employment to be amended or supplemented by business-specific collective labour agreements.

4. Temporary lay off. Article 4 of Law 3846/2010 introduces the option of salaried employees being temporarily laid off when the financial activity of the undertakings and businesses they work for reduces, such temporary laying off lasting for 3 months per year. This is only possible though after the employee’s representatives are consulted, or if there are no representatives where all employees are consulted. While temporarily laid off, salaried employees should receive half of their average normal pay over the last two months while working full time.

After that three-month period is up, the same salaried employee may be temporarily laid off again, but only after a three-month period has first elapsed.

The relevant departments of the Labour Inspectorate, the IKA Fund and the Hellenic Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED) must be notified about the temporary lay off.

Where those provisions are infringed, undertakings are obliged not just to accept the services of their salaried employees but also to pay them their full pay.

5. Organisation of working time. Article 7 of Law 3846/2010 replaces the provisions of Article 41 of Law 1892/1990 which had been replaced other times in the past.

The organisation of working time may be determined, as a matter of priority, in business-specific collective labour agreements or agreements between the employer and the business-specific trade union or the employer and work’s council, or the employer and a grouping of persons (i.e. 5 employees where the number of employees in the undertaking is at least 20) otherwise between the employer and the corresponding sectoral trade union or federation, and it is also possible to seek recourse to mediation and arbitration where agreement is not reached by the employer and the sectoral trade union or federation (Article 7(6) and (7)).

Provision has also been made for a period of increased employment where employees work for more hours due to a backlog of work (attributable to the nature / type / scope of work or unusual or unforeseeable circumstances). During the 40-hour working week, employees are permitted to work 2 additional hours a day provided that the additional time is deducted from working time in another period (period of decreased employment). Instead of such reductions, it is also possible to grant day offs or a combination of reduced working hours and days off. Those periods of increased and decreased employment cannot exceed a total of 4 months in any one calendar year.

Employees are entitled to refuse to provide additional work only where they are not in a position to carry out the work, and their refusal is not contrary to good faith, and thus their refusal cannot constitute a ground for terminating their contract.

Where the contractual working time is less than 40 hours a week, working time arrangements covering a total of 256 working hours per year can be made, which involve increasing the number of working hours over time periods which cannot exceed 32 hours a year, and reducing the number of working hours in the rest of the calendar year.

Pay during the time that such arrangements are in place should be equal to the pay for 40 hours a week since the 40-hour working week applies, otherwise if the undertaking’s working week is less than 40 hours, the pay should be equal to the pay corresponding to that working week.

During the period of increased employment, the provisions on extra work and overtime do not apply to overruns of the daily working time (for work of up to 10 hours) and for overruns of the 40-hour working week (Article 7(5)(a) of Law 3846/2010).

During the period of decreased employment, only in exceptional cases is it possible to overrun the agreed reduced working time period, and the augments payable for this are specified in Article 7(5)(b) of Law 3846/2010.

Lastly, it should be noted that depending on the undertaking’s own specific needs, the business-specific collective labour agreement may lay down other arrangements for the organisation of working time (Article 7(8) of Law 3846/2010).

6. Where work is normally provided 5 days a week, any work done on a 6th day shall be paid at the daily wage rate augmented by 30%, irrespective of the sanctions which are applicable in such cases (Article 8 of Law 3846/2010).

7. Tele-working. Tele-working is now regulated by Article 5 of Law 3846/2010 which lays down the obligations of employers to provide benefits / information to employees and the adjustment period of 3 months when normal work is converted to tele-work.

8. Allocation of leave. Article 8 of Law 3846/2010 allows for the ordinary leave to be allocated between two periods, one of which must be at least 12 working days long in the case where employees work 6 days a week or the employees are minors, and 10 working days long in the case where employees work 5 days a week.

9. Loan of employees. Article 3 of Law 3846/2010 and Article 17(6) of Law 3899/2010 have amended Law 2956/2001 on the loan of employees. The most important amendments are as follows: (a) the maximum time that an employee can be employed with an indirect employer is now 36 months;

(b) The provisions which stated that the contract relating to the loan of an employee also had to set the level of pay which the employee would receive from the indirect employer, not being lower than that received by the staff of the indirect employer under the applicable sectoral, professional or business-specific collective labour agreements have been repealed (meaning that the indirect employer will be able to pay the employee on loan based on the thresholds set in the national general collective labour agreement, irrespective of the pay received by his other employees); and

(c) in the case where the indirect employer is not known at the time the employee is hired by the temping agency, the contract should state the framework of terms and conditions under which work will be provided to the indirect employee, while the phrase which stated “the employee agreeing with that framework” has been deleted, which means that in the case where the employee refuses to provide work to the indirect employer because he disagrees with the framework, that will now be a ground for the temping agency terminating the employment contract.

Law 3863/2010

10. Article 71(1) of Law 3863/2010 amends the quotas for mass redundancies as follows:

a) up to 6 employees for businesses or undertakings employing up to 150 people;

b) 5% of staff and up to 30 employees for businesses or undertakings employing over 150 people.

11. In the case of open-ended employment contracts, the first 12-month period is now a probationary period, in which case the contract can be terminated without notice and without any dismissal pay save where the parties have agreed otherwise (Article 74(2), as amended by Law 3899/2010).

12. In all other respects, the notice period for terminating open-ended employment contracts has been shortened (Article 74(B)). The minimum notice period is 1 month for employment periods of 12 months to 2 years, 2 months for employment periods of 2 to 5 years, 3 months for employment periods of 5 to 10 years, 4 months for employment periods of 10 to 15 years, 5 months for employment periods of 15 to 20 years and 6 months for employment periods of 20 years or more.

Where notice of termination is given, only half the dismissal pay will now be payable. The compensation calculations have not been affected. This only applies to employees and not to labourers.

13. Moreover, Article 74(3) has amended the scheme for payment of compensation in instalments, where it exceeds 2 month’s pay. The instalments are now payable every two months and the amount payable immediately along with the compensation corresponds to 2 month’s pay.

14. People aged 55 to 64 who have been dismissed now have the right to insure themselves for social security purposes. That right must be exercised within 2 months from the termination of their employment contract (irrespective of whether it is a mass redundancy or individual dismissal), provided they remain unemployed, and the employer is obliged for a period of 3 years after the dismissal to participate in the cost of such a self-insurance scheme by up to 50% for persons aged 55 to 60 and 80% for persons aged 60 to 64.

However, it is not permitted for this category of persons dismissed to exceed 10% of the total number of people dismissed otherwise all dismissals will be invalid (Article 7(4) and (5) of Law 3863/2010).

15. There are now incentives for hiring young people joining the labour market for the first time provided they are aged up to 25, with them being paid 84% of the minimum basic salary or wage specified in the national general collective labour agreement, and social security contributions for new recruits in all insurance sectors being subsidised by OAED.

16. Article 74(9) of Law 3863/2010 introduces provisions allowing apprenticeship agreements for 15 to 18 years olds to be entered into, where pay is at 70% of the minimum basic salary or wage specified in the national general collective labour agreement for a period of 1 year in order to enable such persons to acquire skills, and provided that work is for up to 40 hours a week for anyone aged 16 or over, and up to 30 hours a week (6 hours a day) for anyone not yet turned 16. Apprentices are prohibited from working between 22:00 hours and 06:00 hours on the following day.

17. Article 74(10) of Law 3863/2010 introduces a reduction in pay for extra work and overtime. The augment for extra work has been reduced from 25% to 20%, while the augment for lawful overtime up to 120 hours per year is 40% and the augment for overtime after the first 120 hours has been reduced from 75% to 60%. In the case of unlawful overtime, the augment has been reduced from 100% to 80%.

Law 3899/2010

In addition to making certain amendments to the aforementioned Laws referred to above in the appropriate places, Law 3899/2010 also contains the following important provisions:

18. The institution of mediation referred to Article 73 of Law 3846/2010 has been repealed and has been replaced by the institution of mediation and arbitration (Articles 14 -16).

19. The Law also permits the conclusion of business-specific collective labour agreements which can be used to regulate pay and the terms and conditions of work, which derogate from the provisions of the corresponding sectoral collective labour agreements but may not be less advantageous than those contained in the national general collective labour agreement. In the case of such business-specific collective labour agreements, the provisions of Articles 10 and 11 of Law 1876/1990 (on the existence of several collective labour agreements and accession by trade unions to such agreements) do not apply, which means that the principle of favourable treatment of the employee is now bypassed since the business-specific collective labour agreements can introduce arrangements which are less favourable to employees (Article 13(1) of Law 3899/2010). Those arrangements can regulate the number of job positions, the terms and conditions of part-time employment and rotating employment, temporary lay offs, and so on (Article 13(1)(b)).

They can also be entered into by employers who employ less than 50 employees, the counterparty being the relevant trade union, or where there is no trade union, the relevant sectoral trade union or the relevant federation (Article 13(2)). The parties must draft an explanatory report setting out their intention to conclude a business-specific collective labour agreement and submit it to the relevant Labour Inspectorate Board which will provide an opinion within a fixed deadline of 20 days, after which its consent will be presumed to have been given (Article 13(3) of Law 3899/2010).

There is an issue with what happens in the case of undertakings employing less than 20 employees where this is no employee trade union. These provisions are imperfect because undertakings with fewer than 20 employees will have minimal bargaining power with the corresponding sectoral trade union or federation.

Furthermore, there is another issue about the fate of existing employment contracts at the time the business-specific collective labour agreement is concluded, namely whether it will be taken that they are covered (especially given that the new agreement will clearly contain arrangements which are less favourable to employees) or whether new contracts should be signed with the employees which are in line with the specific terms and conditions of the business-specific collective labour agreement.