Night work, Sundays and public holidays in Greece: premiums and rules for shift schedules

02

Night premium: 25%

• For all work between 22:00 and 06:00 the legal pay is increased by 25%. Every employee is entitled to it, whether or not they work those hours permanently, in businesses that run continuously or not (article 150).
• The premium is always calculated on the compulsory minimum wages, may not be offset against higher pay, and is reduced in proportion when work is shorter than the normal schedule.
• Those who work only at night because of the nature of the job are not entitled to it only if their pay is already at least 25% above the minimum; if the difference is smaller, the remainder is paid.

03

Limits and protection for night workers

• Normal night work may not exceed an average of 8 hours per 24 over a reference period of one week, unless a national or regional collective agreement sets another period (article 176).
• Where night work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain, it may not exceed 8 hours in any 24-hour period in which night work is done.
• A medical check before starting night work and at regular intervals, at no cost to the employee. If health problems caused by night work are found, the employee is transferred to day work for which they are suited (article 177).
• The risks of night work are assessed in the employer’s written risk assessment.

04

Sunday: the rule and the exceptions

As a rule, all business activity is prohibited on Sundays and public holidays, and every employee has 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, on Sunday from 00:00 to 24:00. In businesses running around the clock with three teams, that rest may run from 06:00 on Sunday to 06:00 on Monday (article 205).

The Code, however, exempts many sectors from Sunday rest (article 210), among them:

• hotels, restaurants, patisseries, bars, cafés and similar businesses;
• medical practices, clinics, hospitals and health institutions;
• security services;
• transport, courier services, logistics and distribution centres serving retail shops;
• call centres, data centres and telecommunications;
• the food industry and other industries named in the article.

05

The public holidays

The Code sets nine compulsory public holidays (article 203): 1 January, Epiphany (6 January), 25 March, Easter Monday, 1 May, the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (15 August), 28 October, and 25 and 26 December. A ministerial decision may add up to five more each year, and regional governors may set local holidays.

A public holiday runs from 00:00 to 24:00, or from 06:00 to 06:00 the next day in businesses running around the clock with three teams. On Good Friday shops may not open or employ staff until 13:00 (article 204).

06

Sunday and public-holiday premium: 75%

• Anyone who works on a Sunday or one of the nine public holidays is entitled to a 75% premium, as set by joint ministerial decision 8900/1946 and its authentic interpretation 25825/1951 — whatever the validity of the agreement for that work (article 219).
• Employees paid by the day who did not work on one of those holidays for reasons not their own receive their daily wage, without the premium.

07

Compensatory rest after a Sunday

• More than 5 hours of work on Sunday: 24 consecutive hours of rest on another working day of the week that began on that Sunday, counted from when the work ended (article 212).
• Up to 5 hours: the employee may ask for the same amount of rest out of the working time of another day of the same week.
• The employer sets the day of compensatory rest and records it in the working-hours tables.
• Where Sunday work is allowed, in every 7-week period one compensatory rest must fall, at least for eight hours, on a Sunday — unless the schedule gives 7 Sundays of rest in the year.

08

What this means for the shift schedule

• Share night shifts fairly, and keep the 11 hours of daily rest when moving from nights to mornings (article 171).
• For every Sunday worked, put that week’s compensatory rest in the same schedule.
• Mark public holidays on the calendar before you publish the schedule.
• Count each employee’s night hours, Sundays and public holidays every month: payroll needs them. 365shift’s free Excel template counts them automatically.
• In 365shift the minimum rest between shifts is 11 hours by default, and you can rule out night shifts for anyone who does not work them; every breach is marked in the schedule.