Rotating shifts in Greece: what the law says about rest, pay and ΕΡΓΑΝΗ

02

Rotating shifts are not rotating work (εκ περιτροπής)

The two are often confused, and in English the names are close. On rotating shifts the hours of the shift change; a full-time employee works 40 hours a week (Labour Code, article 189). In rotating work — εκ περιτροπής απασχόληση — the days change: fewer days a week, fewer weeks a month or fewer months a year, each with a full working day (article 113 §3).

• Rotating work is agreed in a written individual contract; without one, full-time employment is presumed (article 113 §3).
• An employer may impose it only when its activities are reduced, for up to 9 months a year, after informing and consulting the employees’ representatives, and must notify the Labour Inspectorate within 8 days (article 113 §3).
• In rotating work too, work on a Sunday, a public holiday or at night is paid with the legal premium (article 113 §6).

03

Rest and days off on rotating shifts

• Daily rest: at least 11 consecutive hours in every 24 (Labour Code, article 171). An afternoon shift 14:00–22:00 followed by a morning at 06:00 the next day leaves only 8 hours — not allowed. Rotating forwards (morning → afternoon → night) leaves 24.
• Weekly rest: 24 consecutive hours every week, in principle on Sunday, plus the 11 hours of daily rest (article 173). Where work runs round the clock with successive teams, “Sunday” may start at 06:00 or 07:00 and end at the same time on Monday (articles 173 and 205).
• Working days: the 40-hour full-time week is spread over five days (8 hours a day) or six (6 hours 40 minutes) (article 189). On a five-day rotation, that is five working days a week.
• Breaks: when work goes beyond 4 consecutive hours, a break of 15 to 30 minutes, which is not working time and may not be given at the start or end of the shift (article 172).

04

A sixth day on a five-day rotation

• Continuous-operation businesses with rotating shifts and a five-day week may have someone work a sixth day if they register it in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ before the employee starts (Labour Code, article 192).
• Businesses that are not continuous by nature but can run Monday–Saturday round the clock on rotating shifts: only in exceptional cases of unforeseen, much higher workload, after notifying the Labour Inspectorate and registering it in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ before the start (article 191).
• In both cases: no more than 8 hours that day, no extra work or overtime, and the day’s wage paid at +40%. It does not apply to hotels and food-service businesses (articles 191 and 192).

05

Pay: what rotating shifts change

The Labour Code ties premiums to when someone works — at night, on a Sunday, on a public holiday, on a sixth day — not to the fact that shifts rotate. On a rotating schedule those hours are simply shared out. Check your sector’s collective agreement as well, which may give more.

• Night: for any work between 22:00 and 06:00, the legal pay is increased by 25%. The premium is calculated on the statutory minimum rates and is not offset against higher pay (Labour Code, article 150).
• Sundays and the nine public holidays listed in article 219: +75% (article 219).
• A sixth day on a five-day week: +40% (articles 191 and 192).
• In law, a night worker is someone who works at least 3 hours of their normal daily working time between 22:00 and 06:00 (article 170).

06

How it is declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ

Each employee’s working hours are declared as the “Digital Organisation of Working Time” (Ψηφιακή Οργάνωση Χρόνου Εργασίας), in one of two forms: a fixed weekly schedule, or a schedule that varies or changes by day. A rotating schedule is the second: you declare, date by date, the working hours or that the day is a rest day (Ministerial Decision 40331/Δ1.13521/2019).

• The declaration is made before the employee starts work. Where two declarations cover the same period, the last one applies (Decision 40331).
• Split hours: the second part starts at least 3 hours after the end of the first. The “non-working day” option is allowed for rotating work (εκ περιτροπής) (Decision 40331).
• Every change to the schedule is registered at the latest on the day of the change and in any case before work starts (Labour Code, article 581 §1).
• Employers that have joined the Digital Work Card may skip registering the change in advance; but if the change is not matched by the card’s clock events, the fine is €10,500 per employee (article 581 §3). The guide to the advance and retrospective systems explains when each applies.

07

When shifts do not follow a fixed cycle

If an employee’s schedule is mostly unpredictable, they are obliged to work only within reference hours and days they have been told in advance, and only if they were notified in writing — by email, SMS or another suitable way — at least 24 hours before, unless a shorter notice is objectively justified. Otherwise they may refuse without any adverse consequence, and if the assignment is cancelled after they were notified, they are owed the hourly pay for the hours they lose (Labour Code, article 190).

08

Rotating rosters in 365shift

• The “Rotating 2-2-2-2” rule: auto-fill, part of the AI Scheduler (Expert), aims for it. It does not warn when a day’s roster cannot allow it.
• The “No rotating shifts” rule: for people who do not rotate, it keeps the same shift band across the week.
• The “Minimum rest between shifts” rule (11 hours by default) flags every shift that leaves less rest. “Max hours per week” blocks an assignment above the cap. “Strict five-day week”: at most five working days a week.
• With the ΕΡΓΑΝΗ module, the published roster is declared as the working-time organisation — a fixed week or a schedule that changes by day.