Employment Law
Practical advice on employment relationships, workplace compliance and disputes — for employers and for senior executives.
Employment Law and Workplace Relations
Employment law is among the most frequently amended areas of Greek law, and among the most heavily policed. The obligations placed on employers are detailed, the reporting requirements are digital and immediate, and the penalties for getting them wrong are severe.
Our firm provides preventive advice and robust representation to both sides of the employment relationship: to companies and their HR functions in managing their workforce lawfully, and to employees — principally senior managers and executives — in protecting their position.
For employers, we prepare every category of employment contract, including indefinite and fixed-term, part-time and rotational, teleworking and executive contracts, with the protective provisions that matter: confidentiality undertakings, post-termination non-compete clauses and the assignment of intellectual property. We advise on compliance with the ERGANI employment registry, including working-time declarations and the digital work card, draft internal work regulations, and guide employers through disciplinary procedures and terminations.
In disputes, we look first to resolve matters through negotiation or through the conciliation procedure before the Labour Inspectorate. Where litigation is unavoidable we have long experience of it, acting in claims for unpaid wages and overtime, challenges to abusive or unlawful dismissal, workplace accidents, and claims arising from harassment or discrimination at work.
Why Choose Our Firm
Workplace decisions need careful handling. A procedural error can turn a routine termination into a fine from the inspectorate and a claim in court, and the cost of the mistake usually exceeds by a wide margin the cost of taking advice before making it.
We know the legislation and, just as importantly, how it is applied in practice. Acting for employers and for senior executives gives us a view from both sides of the table, which means we can usually anticipate the other party’s position and plan for it. Our advice aims to balance the operational flexibility a business needs against the compliance the law requires.
Our Approach
We believe prevention is the best defence.
Our starting point with a new employer client is usually an employment audit: a review of contracts, payroll records, working-time declarations and internal policies to identify and correct irregularities before they become claims.
Where a business faces a difficult moment — a restructuring, a collective redundancy, the exit of a senior employee — we plan each step of the process in advance, so that the decision is properly grounded, correctly documented and defensible if it is later challenged.
And where a matter does reach court, we are prepared for it.
Core areas of expertise
Employment Contracts & Clauses
Drafting of employment contracts, non-compete and confidentiality clauses, teleworking agreements and employee-leasing arrangements.
Pay & Benefits Compliance
Legal review of compliance with statutory minimum pay, overtime uplifts, allowances and leave entitlements.
Dismissals & Severance
Lawful handling of terminations, calculation of statutory severance and preparation of settlement and exit agreements.
Employment Disputes & Mediation
Representation in claims for unlawful dismissal, unpaid wages, detrimental changes to terms and workplace harassment.
Health & Safety at Work
Legal management of workplace accidents and compensation claims, and compliance with health and safety obligations.
Collective Labour Relations
Application of collective bargaining agreements, negotiations with trade unions and the management of industrial action.
Frequently asked questions
What must a valid employment contract in Greece contain?
A contract of employment should identify the parties, the place of work, the role, the start date (and end date, where the contract is for a fixed term), the working hours, the remuneration and the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
The employer must notify the employee of the essential terms in writing within the prescribed period, and must register the hiring in the ERGANI system before the employee begins work. Late registration is treated seriously and is one of the most common findings in an inspection.
How is a dismissal challenged, and how do you defend one?
A termination of an indefinite-term contract is valid where it is given in writing, the statutory severance is paid, the employment was properly registered, and there is a valid reason for it under the current legislation.
An employee may nonetheless challenge the dismissal as abusive — for example as retaliatory. We defend the business by evidencing the genuine operational, economic or disciplinary grounds behind the decision, which is why we advise employers to document those grounds contemporaneously rather than reconstruct them afterwards.
What are the employer's obligations on working time and overtime?
Employers must keep to the working hours declared in the ERGANI system and operate the digital work card where it is mandatory for their sector. Any hours worked beyond the statutory schedule must be notified in advance and paid at the applicable statutory uplift.
Failure to comply, or the use of a part-time contract to disguise what is in fact full-time work, attracts substantial fines — up to €10,500 for each undeclared employee.
Can an employment dispute be resolved before it reaches court?
In most cases, yes, and we normally recommend trying. We negotiate directly with the employee or their lawyer towards a settlement, recorded in a written agreement including a waiver of further claims.
We also represent employers in the labour dispute procedure before the Labour Inspectorate, presenting written submissions and evidence establishing the lawfulness of the employer’s conduct. A well-prepared file at that stage frequently avoids both a fine and subsequent litigation.