Law 4756/2020 and Ministerial Decisions 48713/1232 and 48690/1476, published on 26 November 2020, extend existing support measures, including suspension of employment contracts and remote work, and introduce the possibility to carry over annual leave.
More specifically:
A. Suspension of employment contracts
Employers on lockdown by order of the authorities
Employers on lockdown by order of the authorities are obliged to suspend the employment contracts of their employees (hired until 4 November) or extend existing suspensions during the period from 7 to 30 November 2020 (to be extended until 14 December as announced by the Government on 3 December). Fixed-term employment contracts, which were due to expire after the lockdown, are also suspended and will continue after the lockdown is lifted for the remaining of their term.
Above employers are prohibited from making any dismissals during the lockdown period and in any event until 30 November 2020 (to be extended until 14 December). If effected, such dismissals are invalid.
Employers severely impacted by the crisis
Employers belonging to the specific impacted categories listed in the Ministerial Decision may suspend the employment contracts of all or part of their employees (hired until 4 November) or extend existing suspensions for a maximum of 30 days and in any event not beyond 30 November 2020 (to be extended until 14 December). Fixed-term employment contracts can also be suspended, in which case their term will be continued after the suspension period.
During the suspension period and in any event until 30 November 2020 (to be extended until 14 December) employers are prohibited from proceeding to dismissals. If effected, such dismissals are invalid. Employers who make use of the above measure are obliged to maintain the same number of employees under the same type of employment contracts for a period equal to the total suspension period. Such restriction does not cover employees who resign, retire or whose fixed-term contracts expire during said period.
Special state benefit
Employees placed on suspension as above are entitled to a special state benefit of Euro 800 for November and Euro 534 for December, prorated to the days of the suspension, as well as to full social security coverage, borne by the Greek State, calculated on their contractual salary.
B. Extension of remote work and working hours measures
Until 31 December 2020, as extended, the following measures will apply:
(a) Employers are obliged to apply a system of remote work to half of their employees whose duties may, depending on their nature, be provided remotely. Employers must notify in advance the use of remote work to ERGANI. Failure to do so is subject to a fine of Euro 3,000.
(b) The working hours of private sector employees must be adjusted so that employees arrive to and depart from work in half-hour intervals and in any case within 2 hours from their contractual arrival and departure times. For the duration of the measure, the obligation of employers to notify changes of working hours to ERGANI is temporarily suspended. Employers continue, however, to be obliged to notify overtime/overwork in advance.
C. Carry over of annual leave
By way of exception, employers who have made use of the suspension measure either continuously or intermittently until 31 December 2020 may carry over the total or the remaining of the employees’ 2020 leave entitlement until 30 June 2021.
