GSEE has published a guide to the rights of workers who will be working during the Easter holidays.
The guide deals with the wages to which they are entitled, working hours, rest days, Collective Labor Agreements and labor regulations, which determine working conditions.
As it states:
Good Friday (3-5-2024) is mandatory half-time for shops. According to the law, the employment of employees and the operation of shops until 13:00 on Good Friday are prohibited.
For other businesses Good Friday is not included in the statutory holidays defined by the law for workers in the private sector. However, private businesses in our country are slow in case of Good Friday has been classified as a holiday or part-time by a provision of the SSE, Labor Regulation of the companyby business custom and custom, whereby the business remains closed on that day.
Great Saturday (4-5-2024) is a working day for employees who are legally employed on Saturday in the private sector, unless a holiday or half-day has been established by a provision of the SSE, Labor Regulations of the company, by business habit and custom, during which the business remains closed on this day.
For Easter Sunday (5-5-2024) the general rule of the Sunday holiday applies, i.e. the employment of employees is prohibited.
Employees employed in businesses that legally operate on Sundays and other statutory holidays are entitled to the following:
- if they are paid on a daily basis, their usual daily wage and a 75% increase which will be calculated on their statutory hourly wage for all hours worked
- if they are paid a monthly salary, a 75% increase is due, which is calculated at 1/25 of their legal salary for as many hours as they work
- compensatory rest (day off): If employees work more than 5 hours on a Sunday, they are entitled to extras and compensatory rest (day off), on another working day of the week.
In the event that more favorable conditions apply (e.g. from the Collective Labor Agreement, Labor Regulations, business custom or custom) regarding the pay increases for work on a Sunday (as well as a mandatory holiday), these prevail.
THE Easter Monday (6-5-2024) is by law a mandatory holiday for all businesses.
In businesses that are not operating, the usual daily wage is paid without any increase to those who are paid a daily wage, while those who are paid a salary are paid their monthly salary.
The employees who will be employed are entitled to:
- if they are paid a daily wage, their usually paid daily wage and a 75% surcharge that will be calculated on their legal hourly wage for all the hours they work,
- in the event that employees are paid a monthly salary,
– if it concerns businesses that legally operate on Sundays and other statutory holidays, a 75% surcharge is due, which is calculated at 1/25 of their legal salary for all the hours they work,
– if it concerns businesses that are late on Sundays and public holidays and will operate on Easter Monday as an emergency, 1/25 of their usually paid salary is due and an additional 75% surcharge on the legal daily wage for as many hours as they work.
The above for the statutory holidays are also valid this year for Easter Tuesday (7-5-2024), a day to which May Day was moved by Ministerial Decisions (Β΄1406/2024, Β΄1836/2024).
Highlights
The provisions of the legislation on the Sunday holiday, the Easter period holidays, the weekly rest time of employees and the exceptions thereto (depending on the activity and the nature of the work) are contained codified in articles 193-209 of the Individual Labor Law Code (PD 80/2022, A΄222)
In the event that more favorable terms apply (e.g. from the Collective Labor Agreement, Labor Regulations, business custom or custom) regarding the pay increases for work on a mandatory holiday or Sunday, these prevail.
On a mandatory holiday, the employment of workers and the operation of businesses, except for those that legally operate on Sundays and holidays, are prohibited.
It is not legal to set off a day of due rest (day off) with a mandatory holiday.
Mandatory holidays are not included in annual leave with pay.
On Sundays and mandatory holidays, any industrial, craft, commercial work and any professional activity in general is prohibited, except for the exceptions expressly stated in the legislation.
Those businesses that do not fall under the exceptions of the law, cannot operate legally and therefore cannot employ workers, without having received a special permit from the competent Labor Inspectorate and in case of an emergency (risk of destruction of products or damage to facilities or materials), after from an announcement to the Police.
Illegal employment of staff on Sundays or mandatory holidays is classified as a very serious offense with the highest fine and further criminal liability of the employer.
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