Different arrangements for employees who work on a rotational basis include the summer holiday agenda.

The vacation allowance, according to the legislation, is calculated on the basis of the time worked and during the annual leave the dismissal of the employee is prohibited.

The annual leave is calculated from the beginning of his/her employment according to his/her weekly work system (five or six days), without requiring him/her to have completed a period of service with his/her employer. According to the Labour Inspectorate, under Article 3 of Law 539/45, during the period of leave the employee is entitled to receive his “normal remuneration”, i.e. the remuneration he would have received if he had worked in the company during the corresponding period.

The employer is required to grant him, no later than March 31 of the following year, a share of the vacation days to which he is entitled from his employment until December 31 of that calendar year, according to the months of his employment.

The leave percentage is calculated on the basis of 20 working days of annual leave for those who work five days and 24 working days for those who work six days.

When the employee has completed one year with the same employer

According to the GSEE Institute, if the employee completes 12 months of work, he or she is entitled to 21 days of leave if working a five-day job and 25 days if working a six-day job. For the third and subsequent years, the employee is entitled to his/her normal annual paid leave from 1 January each year, i.e. 22 days (five-day work) and 26 days (six-day work).

If the employee has completed 10 years of employment with the same employer or 12 years of service with any employer, the employee is entitled to 25 working days (five-day work) and 30 working days (six-day work).

If they have completed 25 years of service with any employer, employees are entitled to one additional day of leave, i.e., 26 days (five-day work) and 31 days (six-day work).

Only working days are counted in the annual leave days. Therefore, Sundays, public holidays, days related to local customs, illnesses and special leaves provided for by other provisions if they coincide with it (e.g. marriage leave, childbirth leave, maternity leave) are not included.

Regulations also for teleworkers

Teleworkers, based on the new institutional framework, which was made due to the pandemic, retain the right to disconnect. That is, they have the right not to communicate digitally or respond to phone calls, emails or any form of communication.

Article 61 of Law 4808/2021 allows for the possibility of carrying over the annual normal leave until the first quarter of the following calendar year. That is, employees can take recreational leave in 2023 until the end of March 2024.

When can employees take vacation

Annual leave for leisure is granted in consultation between the employers and the employee. At least half of the company’s employees can take their leave between May 1 and September 30. If an employee does not take leave by the first quarter of the following year, he or she may be paid for it.

Employers who employ workers with children up to 16 years of age and children over 16 years of age with disabilities are required to take into account their family needs when planning the timing of annual leave of absence for their staff.

It is permitted under strict conditions to split the annual leave time within the same calendar year into two periods if a serious or urgent need of the enterprise arises.

The first period of leave may not include less than six (6) working days in a six-day workweek and five (5) working days in a five-day workweek or twelve (12) working days if it involves legally employed minors.

Upon written request of the employee to the employer, the vacation time may be divided into more than two periods. One must include at least twelve (12) working days on a six-day workweek and ten (10) working days, on a five-day workweek, or twelve (12) working days if the employee is a legally employed minor.

With respect to businesses employing regular and seasonal personnel and having a particular accumulation of work due to the type or scope of work at a particular time of the year (e.g., hotels, commercial establishments in tourist areas) for regular personnel, the employer may grant the 10 working day portion of the five-day or 12 working day portion of the leave at any time during the calendar year.