Breaks, daily rest and days off in Greece: the rules for shift schedules

02

Split shifts

• An employee whose full-time hours are split into two parts, on all or some days, is entitled to a rest of no less than 3 hours between the parts (article 172 §3).
• In the ΕΡΓΑΝΗ declaration, the second part of a split shift starts at least 3 hours after the first ends (Ministerial Decision 40331/2019, article 2Α).
• Part-time employees with shorter daily hours may not have them split: their work is continuous and once a day, with a few exceptions such as school-transport drivers and escorts and tutoring-school teachers (article 113 §7).

03

Daily rest: 11 consecutive hours

In every 24 hours, rest may not be less than 11 consecutive hours. In law, the 24-hour period starts at 00:01 and ends at 24:00 (article 171).

With the usual 8-hour shifts 07:00–15:00, 15:00–23:00 and 23:00–07:00:

• A morning shift, then an afternoon shift the next day: 24 hours of rest.
• An afternoon shift, then a morning shift the next day: 8 hours — less than 11.
• A night shift ending at 07:00, then an afternoon shift the same day: 8 hours — less than 11.

04

Weekly rest (ρεπό): 24 + 11 hours

Each week the employee has at least 24 consecutive hours of rest, in principle including Sunday, plus the 11 hours of daily rest — 35 consecutive hours in all. Where objective, technical or work-organisation reasons justify it, a minimum of 24 hours may be set (article 173).

• Sunday as a rest day runs from 00:01 to 24:00. In activities running around the clock with successive teams, it may start at 06:00 or 07:00 and end at the same time on Monday (article 173).
• Full time is 40 hours a week, on a five-day or six-day week (article 189); the five-day week is at the employer’s discretion (article 188 §3).
• The average working week, overtime included, may not exceed 48 hours over a period of up to 4 months; annual leave and sick leave are left out of the calculation (article 174).

05

What is declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ

• For each employee: contractual weekly hours, a five- or six-day week, and the break — its length and whether it is within or outside working hours (Ministerial Decision 40331/2019, article 2Α).
• In each day’s breakdown: continuous or split hours, teleworking, or “Εβδομαδιαία Ανάπαυση – Ρεπό” (weekly rest), which cannot be combined with work on the same day (article 2Α).
• Every change is submitted before it takes effect, and in any case before the employee starts work (article 2Α).

06

Fines

Amounts set by Ministerial Decision 80016/2022:

• Not granting minimum daily rest: €400 per employee concerned (Annex II).
• Breach of weekly rest: €800 per employee; the same for work on a Sunday that is the compulsory weekly rest day (Annex II).
• Not granting a break, or the minimum gap in a split shift: a fine per breach that depends on the size of the business — €500 up to 10 employees, €800 for 11–20, €1,500 for 21–50, €2,000 for 51–150, €2,500 for 151–250 and €3,000 above 250 (Annex I).
• Splitting a part-time employee’s hours: €950 per employee (Annex II).
• In addition, breaches of these working-time rules carry the administrative penalties of article 572 and the criminal penalties of article 576 (article 186).

07

What this means for the shift schedule

• Check rest across weeks too: Sunday night and Monday morning fall in different weeks of the schedule, but the 11 hours still count.
• Rotate shifts forwards — morning, afternoon, night — or leave a day off when rotating backwards.
• In 365shift, 11 hours of minimum rest apply by default, and you can change it for each team (1 to 24 hours) or for each employee. Every shift that leaves less rest is marked in the schedule.
• The AI Scheduler’s auto-fill and the replacement suggestions check rest before and after each shift; when they find nobody without a breach, the assignment is shown “with a warning”.
• Days off go into the schedule as ΡΕΠΟ. Auto-fill can also write two days off a week for each employee, aiming for consecutive days, and the “Strict five-day week” rule marks a sixth working day.
• With the ΕΡΓΑΝΗ add-on, the break length and whether it is within working hours are entered in the employee’s ΕΡΓΑΝΗ details and sent with the hiring declaration.