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    Working a sixth day in Greece: when it is allowed, what it pays, how it is declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ

    On a five-day week, a sixth day is allowed only in shift businesses that run around the clock: up to 8 hours, paid +40%, and declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ before work starts. Otherwise it is a breach and is paid +30%. What the Greek Labour Code (P.D. 62/2025) and Ministerial Decision 40331/2019 say.

    Updated: 365shift

    01

    Five-day and six-day weeks

    Full time is 40 hours a week, over five days (8 hours a day) or six days (6 hours 40 minutes a day), under the applicable rules and collective agreements (Labour Code, article 189). Where a five-day week applies, a sixth day is an exception allowed only in the two cases below.

    02

    Continuous-operation businesses with rotating shifts

    In continuous-operation businesses with rotating shifts and a five-day week, a sixth day is allowed provided the employer enters it in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ before the employee starts work (article 192 §1).

    03

    Businesses running 24 hours, Monday to Saturday

    In businesses that are not continuous by nature but can run Monday to Saturday around the clock with rotating shifts, a sixth day is allowed only in exceptional cases of unforeseen, particularly heavy workload. The employer notifies this special condition to the Labour Inspectorate before work starts, and enters the sixth day in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ beforehand too (article 191 §§1–2).

    04

    Limits and pay for the sixth day

    • Up to 8 hours of work, with no additional work or overtime that day (articles 191 §3 and 192 §2).
    • Pay: that day’s daily wage plus 40% (articles 191 §3 and 192 §2).
    • The working-time limits, health and safety rules and in any case articles 169 to 186 of the Code still apply — among them 11 hours of daily rest and the weekly rest (articles 191 §5 and 192 §3).
    • It does not cover staff of hotel and food-service businesses (articles 191 §4 and 192 §4).

    05

    How it is declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ

    The procedure is set by Ministerial Decision 40331/2019 (paras 4.13 and 4.14, as in force since Decision 113169/2023):

    1. Declare once, on your own responsibility, in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ that the business belongs to the category.
    2. If it is not continuous by nature, also declare each time, before work starts, that it faces a particularly heavy workload in a given period. The Labour Inspectorate checks this special condition.
    3. Enter the hours of everyone working the sixth day in the working-time declaration before they start, subject to the retrospective system (Decision 40331/2019, article 2Α Ε).

    06

    Which activity codes

    For this declaration ΕΡΓΑΝΗ has a “ΚΑΔ 6ης Μέρας” list of 40 codes (October 2026):

    • mining, quarrying and manufacturing (ΚΑΔ 05 to 33);
    • electricity, gas, water, sewerage and waste (ΚΑΔ 35 to 39);
    • support activities for transport (52.2);
    • telecommunications (61) and IT consultancy and systems management (62.20);
    • security and investigation activities (80), such as private security;
    • call centres (82.20) and hospitals (86.10).

    07

    A sixth day outside these cases

    • Work on a sixth day in breach of the five-day week is paid at the daily wage plus 30%, regardless of the penalties that apply (article 196).
    • Not paying that 30% is fined €800 per employee (Ministerial Decision 80016/2022, Annex II).
    • The 30% rule does not cover staff of hotel and food-service businesses (article 196).

    08

    The sixth day in the shift schedule

    • Count each employee’s working days before every week: a sixth day is declared before it starts, not after.
    • Keep the sixth day to 8 hours, with the 11 hours of rest before and after it.
    • In 365shift, the “strict five-day week” rule flags anyone with more than five working days in a week, and when you look for cover for a shift left vacant, the suggestions mark anyone for whom it would be a sixth working day.
    • With the ΕΡΓΑΝΗ add-on, the sixth day’s hours are declared with the rest of the schedule in the working-time declaration. You file the “Δήλωση Απασχόλησης για Έκτακτη Βάρδια” yourself in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ; 365shift does not file it.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can employees in Greece work six days a week?

    On a five-day week, only in rotating-shift businesses that are continuous or run around the clock Monday to Saturday (the latter only with unforeseen heavy workload), declared to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ before work starts (Labour Code, articles 191 and 192). On a six-day system, the 40 hours are spread over six days (article 189).

    How is a sixth day paid in Greece?

    At the daily wage plus 40% when worked under articles 191–192 of the Labour Code, and plus 30% when worked in breach of the five-day week (article 196).

    How many hours can be worked on the sixth day?

    Up to 8, with no additional work or overtime that day (Labour Code, articles 191 §3 and 192 §2).

    Does it apply to restaurants and hotels?

    No: hotel and food-service businesses are excluded (Labour Code, articles 191 §4, 192 §4 and 196).

    Shift rosters and the Digital Work Card in one system

    365shift builds the roster against your rules, declares it to ΕΡΓΑΝΗ as the working-time organisation and files the work card from employees’ mobile clock-ins.

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    Sources

    The legal references in this guide rely on the official texts below. It is not legal advice; for your case, ask your accountant or lawyer.