Annual leave in Greece: how many days, when it is given, pay and the leave allowance

02

How many days a year

• From the second year, leave grows by one working day for each year of employment after the first, up to 22 days on a five-day week or 26 on a six-day week (article 221 §1b). From the third year, the full leave is due from 1 January.
• With 10 years with the same employer, or 12 years of service with any employer: 25 days on a five-day week or 30 on a six-day week (National General Collective Agreement 2000–2001, article 6).
• With 25 years of service: one more day, i.e. 26 on a five-day week or 31 on a six-day week (National General Collective Agreement 2008–2009, article 3).

03

When leave is granted

• The leave period is agreed between employer and employee; the employer must grant leave requested within two months of the request at the latest (article 224 §1).
• Each year at least half of those entitled take their leave between 1 May and 30 September.
• Each year’s leave must be used up by the end of the first quarter of the following calendar year.

04

In parts? Only at the employee’s request

Leave is in principle taken whole, on consecutive days. The employee may take part of it for personal needs, by a written request that the employer accepts; at least one part must be 5 working days on a five-day week, 6 on a six-day week, or 12 for minors. The request and the decision need no approval from the Labour Inspectorate and are kept at the business for 5 years (article 225, as replaced by Law 5239/2025).

05

Pay and the leave allowance

• During leave the employee receives the usual pay they would earn if working, including regular additional benefits; for variable pay, the average daily pay times the leave days (article 222).
• Leave allowance (επίδομα άδειας): equal to the pay for the leave days, capped at half a month’s pay for salaried staff or 13 working days’ wages for staff paid by the day (article 223).
• Leave pay is paid in advance, together with the leave allowance, when the leave starts (article 222 §4).

06

Leave cannot be replaced by money

• The minimum annual leave can be replaced by a payment only when the employment ends (article 175).
• Any agreement for the employee to give up or waive leave is treated as non-existent, even for higher compensation. If the employer refuses the legal leave, once the year has ended and a Ministry of Labour body has established it, the employer pays the pay for those days plus 100% (article 226 §1).
• If employment ends before the employee takes the leave owed, they are entitled to its pay; if it ends before the first twelve months, two days’ wages for each month of employment plus the leave allowance (article 226 §§3–4).
• An employee may not be dismissed while on leave (article 226 §5).

07

Declaring leave to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ

The employer declares the leave granted electronically to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ, as a record, within the calendar month after the month it was granted (article 224 §3). For each employee the declaration includes the dates, the number of days and the type of leave; for annual leave and the reference year, the total days the employee is entitled to and the days taken in the year (Ministerial Decision 32689/2025). The Digital Work Card also records “every kind of leave” (article 580 §2).

08

Fines

Per employee concerned (Ministerial Decision 80016/2022, Annex II):

• €900 for not granting annual leave, and €900 for not paying the leave allowance or its proportion.
• €2,000 for dismissal during annual leave.
• General framework: €300 to €50,000 per breach, also for not declaring leave to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ (Labour Code, articles 224 §3 and 572).

09

Part-time employees

Part-time employees are entitled to annual leave and the leave allowance based on the pay they would receive if they were working during the leave, and the rules of article 221 apply to its length accordingly (article 113 §10).

10

Leave and the shift schedule

• Collect summer requests early: at least half of those entitled must take leave between May and September, and every absence from a post needs a replacement.
• In 365shift the employee asks for leave or a day off from their phone or computer, and an administrator approves it or rejects it with a reason.
• Approved leave goes into the schedule as annual leave, with suggested replacements for the shifts it overlaps; the AI Scheduler’s auto-fill does not assign a shift to anyone on approved leave.
• The leave page counts, for each employee, the days of annual leave, of leave carried over from the previous year and of sick leave taken in the year.