Every employee is entitled to annual paid leave from the commencement of their employment with a specific liable undertaking. Pursuant to Article 1 of Law 3302/2004, every employee bound by a contract of dependent employment, whether of fixed or indefinite duration, is entitled to annual paid leave from the commencement of their employment with a specific liable undertaking.
The annual leave is granted by the employer pro rata (as a percentage) on the basis of the period during which the employee has worked for that employer. The proportion of leave granted is calculated on the basis of an annual entitlement of 20 working days under a five-day working week and 24 working days under a six-day working week, corresponding to 12 months of continuous employment. The employer is obliged, by the end of the first calendar year in which the employee was hired, to grant in instalments the annual paid leave proportionate to the time of employment with the liable undertaking.
During the second calendar year, the employee is entitled to receive the annual paid leave proportionate to the time of employment with the liable undertaking, calculated as set out above. This leave is increased by one (1) working day for each year of employment beyond the first, up to twenty-two (22) working days where a five-day working week applies, or up to twenty-six (26) working days in the case of a six-day working week.
From the third calendar year onwards, the employee is entitled to take the entire annual leave at any point during that year.
Increased annual leave on the basis of length of service
The National General Collective Labour Agreement (EGSSE) of 23/05/2000 provides for the granting of 25 or 30 working days, depending on whether the work is performed under a six-day or five-day working week, to employees who have completed 10 years of service with the same employer or 12 years of prior service with any employer.
In addition, the EGSSE of 02/04/2008 provides that, upon completion of 25 years of service or prior service, employees are entitled to one (1) additional working day, that is to say a total of thirty-one (31) working days under a six-day working week and twenty-six (26) working days under a five-day working week.
Article 2 of Emergency Law 539/45 stipulates that, for the purposes of employees’ rest leave, only working days are counted. Accordingly, Sundays, public holidays, days of the employee’s illness (within the limits of short-term illness) falling within the leave period, and the employee’s absence due to military service, strike, lock-out or force majeure are not included.
For employees on a five-day working week, the day of the week on which they do not work due to the five-day arrangement (rest day) is not included in the number of leave days.
The timing of leave, in accordance with Article 4 of Emergency Law 539/45, is arranged between employees and employer. At least half of the employees must take their leave between 1 May and 30 September. The employer is obliged to grant leave within 2 months from the time the relevant request was made, although this is not a formal precondition for the employee’s taking of annual leave. The leave to which the employee is entitled each year must be exhausted by the end of the first quarter of the following calendar year (Law 4808/2021, Article 61).
As a rule, the rest leave of employees is granted in its entirety, once a year. However, pursuant to point 3 of sub-paragraph IA.14 of the first article of Law 4093/2012, exceptional splitting of the leave period within the same calendar year into two (2) periods is permitted on grounds of a particularly serious or urgent need of the undertaking or business. In any event, the first period of leave may not comprise fewer than six (6) working days under a six-day working week and five (5) working days under a five-day working week, or, in the case of minors, twelve (12) working days.
Splitting of the leave period into more than two periods is also permitted, of which one must comprise at least twelve (12) working days under a six-day working week and ten (10) working days under a five-day working week, or, in the case of minors, twelve (12) working days, following a written request by the employee to the employer.
In particular, in the case of undertakings employing both regular and seasonal staff and experiencing a particular accumulation of work owing to the type or nature of their operations during a specific period of the year, the employer may, with regard to regular staff, grant the portion of leave consisting of 10 working days under a five-day working week or 12 under a six-day working week at any time within the calendar year.
The employee’s request and the employer’s decision do not require approval by the competent service of the Labour Inspectorate (SEPE); they are kept on the premises of the undertaking for five (5) years and made available to the Labour Inspectors.
Pay during annual leave
Pursuant to Article 3 of Emergency Law 539/45, during their leave the employee is entitled to receive their “usual remuneration”, that is to say the remuneration they would have received had they worked at the undertaking during the corresponding period. Remuneration includes everything paid to the employee on a regular and permanent basis as consideration for their work (Athens Court of Appeals 1950/1995).
Remuneration also includes, among other things: (a) pay for regular work on Sundays, public holidays or at night (Areios Pagos 659/2003, AP 1449/2002, AP 273/93, AP 540/85, AP 1318/84, etc.); (b) pay for additional work, where regularly performed (AP 702/2002, AP 703/2002, AP 588/93, Athens Court of Appeals 371/85, etc.); (c) pay for lawful regular overtime that the employee would have performed during their leave had they worked during that period (AP 911/1986, Athens Court of Appeals 1950/1995, etc.).
Leave pay does not include, among other things, compensation for unlawful overtime work (AP 1339/2005), nor the proportion of holiday bonuses (Athens Court of Appeals 1950/1995), since leave pay is linked to the remuneration of the leave period and not in the abstract to regular remuneration, as is the case with holiday bonuses, in which the leave allowance proportion is included.
Leave Allowance
In addition to leave pay, employees are entitled to receive a “Leave Allowance” (Article 3 of Law 4504/66). The right to receive a leave allowance is ancillary to the right to take annual leave and is calculated in the same way as leave pay, that is to say it is equal to the total leave pay, subject to the limit that it may not exceed, for those paid by salary, half a monthly salary, and for those paid by daily wage, hourly wage or commission, 13 daily wages.
Time of payment
Both leave pay and the leave allowance are paid in advance to the employee at the commencement of their leave, in accordance with Article 3(8) of Emergency Law 539/45, as amended by Article 1(3) of Legislative Decree 4547/1966.
Leave pay and leave allowance upon termination of the employment relationship
Where the employment relationship is terminated in any manner whatsoever (dismissal, resignation, etc.) before the employee has taken the annual leave owed to them, the employee is entitled to the remuneration they would have received had leave been granted (Article 1(3) of Law 1346/1983).
Pursuant to Article 38 of Law 1892/1990, as formulated by Article 59 of Law 4635/2019, part-time employees as well as employees on rotating work are entitled to annual paid leave and a leave allowance, on the basis of the remuneration they would have received had they worked during their leave, to the duration of which the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 2 of Emergency Law 539/1945, as in force, apply mutatis mutandis.
As regards the granting of leave to employees engaged on intermittent or rotating work, Article 2(2) of Emergency Law 539/45, as replaced by Article 1 of Law 1346/83, in conjunction with Article 1 of Law 3302/2004, applies. Specifically, under this provision, an employee on intermittent work is entitled, for each calendar year, to paid leave equal to one twelfth of the leave to which a fully employed worker is entitled for each month of employment from the date of hire.
For the purposes of calculating this leave, a month is deemed to comprise twenty-five (25) days of employment. Where, in calculating under this paragraph, a fraction of leave time exceeding half a day arises, the fraction is rounded up to a whole day. The leave allowance is equal to leave pay, subject to the limit that it may not exceed half a monthly salary or thirteen daily wages. The right to leave is acquired in this form of employment by the employee, from the date of hire, for every 25 days of actual work.
Where leave is not granted by 31 March of the following calendar year, the entitlement to leave is converted into a monetary claim. The employer is obliged to pay the employee the leave pay, in single amount where there is no fault on their part, and double, that is to say with a 100% surcharge, where the employer is at fault (Emergency Law 539/1945 and Legislative Decree 3755/1957, Law 4808/2021, Circular 64597/2021).
Any agreement between employer and employee concerning the “abandonment of his right to leave or waiver of his right to leave” is deemed non-existent, even if it provides for payment of an increased compensation (Article 5(1) of Emergency Law 539/45).
Prohibition of termination of the employment contract during leave
During leave, the dismissal of the employee by the employer is prohibited (Article 5(6) of Emergency Law 539/45).
Prohibition of work during leave
The employee is prohibited from undertaking any paid work while on leave. An employer who employs a worker during their annual leave is entitled to withhold remuneration for the corresponding period (Article 5(2) of Emergency Law 539/45).
Pursuant to point 2 of sub-paragraph IA.5 of the first article of Law 4254/2014, every employer must keep a special book, which may also be in the form of computerised pages. The special book or computerised pages must bear the details of the undertaking, the indication “Leave Book”, and include the following columns:
Full name of employees, date of hire, number of leave days entitled, dates of commencement and end of leave granted, leave pay, leave allowance. In particular, leave pay and the leave allowance are completed in their entirety by the end of the relevant year in which annual leave is taken.
The Leave Book must be made available to the Labour Inspectors of SEPE, who exercise the inspection and supervision of the application of labour legislation.
In addition to keeping the Leave Book, employers are obliged to electronically notify, in the information system of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs known as “ERGANI”, within the month of April, particulars of employees who took their annual leave and the leave allowance during the previous calendar year (Ministerial Decision 109084/2021).
In the event of non-compliance with this obligation, the competent inspection bodies impose sanctions against the employer in accordance with Article 24 of Law 3996/2011, as in force.
By ministerial decision, all terms and necessary details for the submission of the relevant form (Form E11 — Notification of Annual Paid Leave Particulars) are regulated.
- See also article Termination of Employment Contract
- See also article Dismissal Compensation
- See also article Modification of Working Terms
- See also article Withholding of Work
- See also article Annual Paid Leave
- See also article Employee Remuneration
- See also article Additional Work – Overtime
- See also article Employer Obligations
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON ANNUAL PAID LEAVE
1. How many days of leave am I entitled to as an employee?
Annual paid leave begins at 20 working days under a five-day working week and 24 days under a six-day working week, for 12 months of full employment. From the second year, one day is added per year of service, with an upper limit of 22 days under a five-day working week and 26 under a six-day working week. Upon completion of 10 years with the same employer or 12 years of total prior service, leave increases to 25 or 30 days, while after 25 years of service or prior service one further day is added. During the first calendar year, leave is granted pro rata to the time of employment.
2. What can I do if my employer refuses leave?
The employer must grant leave within two months of the employee’s request, and in any event by the end of the first quarter of the following calendar year. If the employer refuses or delays, the employee may file a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate and bring a lawsuit before the competent Court of First Instance for double payment of leave pay, owing to the employer’s fault. Failure to grant leave entails administrative sanctions under Article 24 of Law 3996/2011, while any agreement waiving the right to leave is deemed null and void, even if it provides for increased compensation.
3. Am I entitled to leave pay if I am dismissed before taking it?
Yes. In every case of termination of the employment relationship — by dismissal, voluntary resignation or expiry of a fixed-term contract — the employee is entitled to the leave pay and leave allowance proportionate to the period of employment, provided they had not yet taken the leave. The entitlement is automatically converted into a monetary claim. If the failure to grant leave is due to the employer’s fault, leave pay is paid at double the amount. The leave allowance is not increased by 100% and is calculated as equal to leave pay, with an upper limit of half a monthly salary or 13 daily wages.
4. What is the limitation period for leave-related claims?
The employee’s claims for leave pay, leave allowance and monetary compensation due to non-granting are, as a rule, time-barred after five years from the end of the year in which they arose. This long period allows the recovery of claims for previous years as well, provided evidence is available. The court proceedings before the Court of First Instance, as a labour dispute, are usually concluded within 12 to 24 months at first instance, depending on the court’s caseload. Before the lawsuit, a labour dispute procedure before the Labour Inspectorate must take place.
5. What documents do I need in order to claim my leave?
The required documents include the employment contract or hiring form E3, detailed payroll receipts for all the years claimed, the annual remuneration certificates, a copy of the Leave Book where available, as well as the E11 “Notification of Annual Paid Leave Particulars” forms which the employer submits to the ERGANI information system in April each year. Useful items include working schedules, any written requests to the employer and the latter’s response, and witness statements from colleagues. The lawyer may also request official copies from the Labour Inspectorate.
6. What is the lawyer’s role in a labour dispute?
The lawyer accurately calculates the leave days owed, leave pay and leave allowance per year, taking into account additional work, regular overtime and night or Sunday work, which are counted within “usual remuneration”. The lawyer drafts an extra-judicial notice to the employer, represents the employee in the labour dispute before the Labour Inspectorate, and brings a lawsuit before the Single-Member Court of First Instance, also seeking the 100% surcharge on grounds of fault. In parallel, the lawyer assesses on a combined basis any claims for unpaid wages, overtime, dismissal compensation and moral damages, so that every amount owed may be claimed in its entirety.