The national transposition of the Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers has been transposed in Greece with the national Presidential Decree 219/2000. It deals with “Measures on the protection of workers, posted in Greece in order to carry out a temporary work, within the territory of Greece in the framework of the transnational provision of services”.
For an overview of all Directives on the matter, take a look at our complete guide on EU Posted Workers Directives.
Preliminary obligations when posting workers to Greece
A foreign posting company must send a written preliminary posting declaration in Greek or in English before the beginning of the service provision. The document must be sent to the competent Department of the Labour Inspectorate on Greek territory.
Every worker employed must be notified. However, there are some exceptions. In fact, navigation companies which post maritime personnel do not have to comply with this obligation.
During the drafting of the relevant documents concerning a posting to Greece, it is important to bear in mind some data are mandatory, such as:
- data of the posting company, its location, its address
- data of the legal representative of the posting company
- data of the legal representative of the receiving company in Greece
- the address of the workplace where the posted workers shall provide services
- data of the posted workers
- dates of the posting period.
In case of change of data in the posting declaration, the posting employer must send the new form with the modification at the latest after 15 days after the modification takes place.
Working and salary conditions in Greece
In Greece there is no transposition of the Directive 2018/957/EU concerning salary alignment, working conditions and so on. For this reason, the regulatory legislation in this framework is still the Directive 96/71/EC, which finds its Greek correspondent in the Greek Presidential Decree of 31 August 2000.
The standard working week in Greece is of 40 hours. However, including overtime, the number cannot be higher than 48 hours per week.
The Presidential Decree 190/2000 affirms that salaries are set by the Greek Labour law (acts, decrees, ministerial decisions) and by collective agreements. In any case, according to the Directive 96/71/EC, implemented by the Directive 2018/957/EU, a worker posted in a European Union member State must benefit from the most favourable conditions among Greek and the employer’s State’s ones.
Storage of the posting documents
In Greece, the place where all the relevant documents concerning the posting must be storage is the workplace. Usually, the most important ones are:
- Employment contract (or an equivalent document)
- Recent pay slip of the posted worker to Greece
- Timesheet
- Evidence of salary payment.
In case of inspection, the employer must provide the competent authority with the above-mentioned documents in Greek or in English. The deadline to provide all the required documents is 15 days after the receipt of the request. In any case, inspections cannot be carried out more than two years after the end of the posting.
Non-EU citizen workers to Greece
In general, third country nationals that hold a permit from a EU Country can enter Greece, but further actions are not allowed. In fact, non-EU workers cannot perform productive activities in Greece unless they have a specific Greek visa/work permit.
Social security in Greece
Pursuant the European Regulation 883/2004, posted workers to Greece may continue to be covered by the social security of the Member State where the employer is based.
The posting company must apply for an A1 Certificate. The competent social institution will issue it once received all the necessary information.
The A1 Certificate could have a maximum duration of 24 months. Furthermore, the worker must hold it for the whole period of his posting to Greece.
Penalties in case of non-compliance with Greek obligations when posting workers
An employer who fails in complying with the provisions of the Greek Labour Law is liable to both administrative and penal sanctions.
Administrative sanctions
Pursuant the Articles 16 and 17 of the Act 2639/1998, an employer who infringes terms and conditions the Labour Law can be punished with a fine which amount ranges from €1.000 to €30.000 for each infringement.
Penal sanctions
On the other hand, the failure of terms and conditions of working time limits, remuneration and other provisions is liable to imprisonment of at least 6 months or to a fine of at least € 900 or to both.