Employing minors in Greece: hours, night work, the work booklet and shift schedules

02

How many hours

• Those under 16, and pupils of lower or upper secondary or technical vocational schools: up to 6 hours a day and 30 a week (article 306 §1).
• For pupils, work starts at least 2 hours after lessons end or ends at least 2 hours before they begin (article 306 §3).
• Overtime is prohibited for all minors (article 306 §5).

03

12 hours of rest and no night work

Every minor is entitled to at least 12 consecutive hours of daily rest, which must include 22:00 to 06:00 (article 306 §2). So a minor cannot be given a shift ending after 22:00 or starting before 06:00, and at least 12 hours separate two of their working days.

04

Work booklet and register

• A minor may not work without a work booklet specific to that job or group of jobs (article 309 §1).
• The booklet requires a medical certificate that the work does not harm their health or development; the Labour Inspectorate refers them to the health services (article 312).
• The employer keeps a register with the name, date of birth, address, booklet number and date, the type of work and the start and end of employment, and shows it to the authorities on request (article 310).

05

Leave

• Annual leave is given during the summer school holidays, in consecutive days; half of it may be taken in parts at other times if the minor asks (article 308 §1).
• A minor who is also a pupil or student gets 2 days of exam leave for each exam day, at least 14 days in total; the employer does not pay it — the public employment service (ΔΥΠΑ) does (article 308 §§2–3).

06

Fines

Under Ministerial Decision 80016/2022 (Annex II), per minor:

• employment without a work booklet: €3,000;
• breaching minors’ working-time limits: €3,000;
• employment in work prohibited for minors: €4,000;
• employing a child under 15: €4,000.

07

A minor in the shift schedule

• Before the first shift: the work booklet and an entry in the register.
• Shifts only within 06:00–22:00; for pupils and under-16s, up to 6 hours a day and 30 a week.
• In 365shift you set rules for the minor — 12 hours of minimum rest and a weekly hours ceiling such as 30; any shift breaking them is flagged on the schedule, and the hours ceiling blocks the assignment when filling shifts. Check the 22:00–06:00 window and the 6-hour day yourself: 365shift does not hold them as rules.