Professional Vehicle Drivers: Particularities
Owing to the particularities of their employment, drivers of professional vehicles, whose work consists primarily in driving vehicles (in particular heavy ones), which understandably requires more rest time than that required for ordinary occupations due to the heightened risk of accidents caused by excessive fatigue, are subject to special statutory provisions: in the employment of drivers of tourist coaches (pullman buses) there are deviations as regards working time limits, since Decision No. 51266/2955/75 of the Minister of Employment applies to them. Under this decision, the driver’s working time may not exceed 13 hours per day and 72 hours per week. Working time includes: (a) driving, which may not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, (b) the time taken to collect and deliver the vehicle to and from the depot, (c) the time of any repairs en route, (d) breaks during the journey and stops away from base, and (e) breaks at base and breaks at the depot between two journeys, provided that each of them does not exceed three hours (from 10 November 1987 onwards, all breaks).
For employment beyond the 8-hour limit, an increased hourly wage is paid: (a) by 25% for up to 60 hours per year, (b) by 50% for hours between 60 and 120 per year, and (c) by 75% for hours beyond 120 per year. From the foregoing, in conjunction with the National General Collective Labour Agreement of 26 February 1975, decisions 6/79 and 1/82 of the Athens Arbitration Tribunal, and the National General Collective Labour Agreement of 14 February 1984, it follows that the employment of pullman drivers may constitute: (a) supplementary work between the contractual and the statutory working time limits, calculated on a weekly basis; (b) permitted overtime work, consisting in the driver’s employment generally beyond 8 hours under the six-day working week and beyond 9 hours under the five-day working week, up to 13 hours per day and from 48 up to 72 hours per week; and (c) unlawful overtime work (where the provisions of the law are not observed), which may take two forms: either by exceeding driving time of 8 or 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week, or by exceeding total working time of 13 hours per day and 72 hours per week. Analogous arrangements were also provided for drivers of urban and intercity KTEL bus operators.
Professional Vehicle Drivers and Supplementary Work – Overtime
The contractual working time of lorry drivers is forty (40) hours per week, while the corresponding statutory limit for five-day employment amounts to forty-five (45) hours. The five additional hours of contractual working time, namely the 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th hour of weekly work, are designated as supplementary work and remunerated with a 20% increment. Supplementary work lies within the discretion of the employer and, where requested by the latter, the employee is obliged to provide it. The driver’s employment beyond the statutory weekly working time of forty-five (45) hours under five-day employment constitutes overtime. Employees performing overtime are entitled, for each hour of lawful overtime and up to one hundred and twenty (120) hours per year, to remuneration equal to the hourly wage paid, increased by forty per cent (40%).
Remuneration for lawful overtime work in excess of one hundred and twenty (120) hours per year is the hourly wage paid, increased by sixty per cent (60%). It should be noted that overtime exists not only when the statutory weekly working time is exceeded, but also when the statutory daily working time is exceeded. The statutory daily working time is, as a rule, 9 hours, for employees engaged on a five-day weekly basis (Article 6 of the National General Collective Labour Agreement of 26/2/1975). This means that exceeding 9 hours within the same day (under the five-day system) constitutes overtime, even if 45 hours are not exceeded during the week (under the five-day system), and is remunerated in accordance with the provisions of Article 74(10) of Law 3863/2010.
In addition to supplementary work, the statutory daily working time of drivers may be exceeded by up to two (2) hours per day and up to 120 hours per year by way of overtime employment, as provided in subparagraph IA.13(2) of the first article of Law 4093/2012. In every case of unlawful overtime work (exceptional overtime), for each hour of exceptional overtime the employee is entitled to compensation equal to the hourly wage paid, increased by eighty per cent (80%). Employers who employ workers under a relationship of dependent employment providing services outside the seat of the undertaking, in areas where they have no branches, must furnish those employees, before the commencement of their employment, with a copy/extract of the “Special Overtime Book”, which is kept under the employer’s responsibility at the place of work and is produced in the event of an inspection by the competent supervisory authorities, in order to enable verification both of its proper completion and of the lawful overtime employment performed within the prescribed limits (Ministerial Decision 11921/253/11-4-2014).
Professional Vehicle Drivers and the Overtime Book
The employer is obliged to record, mandatorily and in any event before they commence, lawful overtime hours in this special book. In the Special Overtime Book kept by the employer, the lawful overtime employment of workers, as provided for under applicable legislation, must be recorded before it commences. This obligation, however, does not mean that any overtime employment of personnel that may possibly be performed should be recorded in advance or on the basis of a schedule, but rather the overtime which, given the circumstances, is certain to be performed. It goes without saying that the time at which the overtime employment performed ends will be recorded in the Special Book upon its completion (Ministry of Labour Document 13146/37/6-4-2015). The terms and conditions for keeping and properly completing the Special Overtime Book are laid down in Article 80(1) of Law 4144/2013, as in force following the enactment of Article 55(1B) of Law 4310/2014. In addition, the employer must notify the “Ergani” Information System, by means of Form E8 – Notification of Overtime Employment Performed, of the totality of lawful overtime hours, within the prescribed limits, performed by the employees during the previous month. The “Special Overtime Book” continues not to require certification, and its keeping is mandatory regardless of whether the worker is or is not engaged in overtime work.
Route Log Book
The owners of lorries, which are classified into three categories (A, B, C), or their representatives, are obliged to provide drivers with a route log book, the form of which, as well as the necessary details for its keeping, are laid down in Decision No. 1173/1980 of the Minister of Labour. The route log book applies to employees under a relationship of dependent employment and records the driver’s working time limits, including the time of departure and arrival of the route.
Tachograph
In addition to the mandatory keeping of the route log book under the terms and conditions set out in the preceding paragraph, lorries exceeding 3.5 tonnes are required to keep a recording device (tachograph). “Tachograph” or “recording equipment” means equipment intended for installation in road transport vehicles for automatic or semi-automatic display, recording, printing, storage and output of data relating to the movement, including the speed, of those vehicles, in accordance with Article 4(3) of Regulation 561/2006, and of data on certain periods of activity of their drivers.
- See also article Termination of Employment Contract
- See also article Severance Compensation
- See also article Modification of Terms of Employment
- See also article Withholding of Labour
- See also article Annual Statutory Leave
- See also article Employee Remuneration
- See also article Supplementary Work – Overtime
- See also article Employer Obligations
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL VEHICLE DRIVERS
1. I work more than 13 hours — what am I entitled to?
Special working time limits apply to drivers of professional vehicles. For tourist coach drivers, the total employment time may not exceed 13 hours per day and 72 hours per week, while net driving time may not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. For lorry drivers, the statutory weekly working time under the five-day system is 45 hours, with a 9-hour daily limit. Any excess in breach of those limits is classified as exceptional (unlawful) overtime and is remunerated with an 80% increment on the hourly wage, regardless of the employer’s culpability.
2. How are a driver’s supplementary work and overtime remunerated?
The hours from the 41st to the 45th per week constitute supplementary work and are remunerated with a 20% increment on the hourly wage. Lawful overtime (beyond 9 hours per day or 45 hours per week) is remunerated with a 40% increment for the first 120 hours per year and 60% for hours beyond that. Where the prescribed formalities are not observed (entry in the Special Overtime Book, submission of Form E8 in “Ergani”), the overtime is deemed exceptional and is remunerated with an 80% increment. For tourist pullman drivers a different scale of increments applies (25%, 50%, 75%) depending on the annual hours.
3. The employer does not record overtime — what do I do?
The keeping of the Special Overtime Book and the submission of Form E8 in the “Ergani” Information System are exclusively the employer’s obligation. Failure to record does not deprive the driver of the right to remuneration; on the contrary, it converts those hours into exceptional overtime carrying an 80% increment. Proof may be made by any lawful means: route log book, tachograph sheets, digital driver cards, testimony of colleagues, GPS data, consignment notes. It is advisable for the driver to keep copies or photographs of his routes, as they constitute the strongest evidence before the court.
4. Within what time must I claim wages owed?
Claims for wages, supplementary work and overtime are, as a rule, time-barred five years after the end of the year in which they arose. If the driver is still employed, the claim does not depend on the termination of the contract. If the employment relationship has already been terminated, prompt action is recommended, since the passage of time makes proof more difficult. In cases of breaches of labour legislation there is a parallel possibility of lodging a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate, without being bound by strict deadlines, which may trigger an administrative inspection and the imposition of fines on the employer.
5. What documents do I need in order to claim remuneration?
The basic items of evidence are the employment contract, payment receipts, payroll statements, the route log book, tachograph cards (digital or paper), consignment notes, CMR documents in international carriage, and any electronic correspondence or messages with the employer evidencing the assignment of routes. Also useful are copies of Form E4 (personnel schedule) and of Form E8 from “Ergani”, which the driver may request. The more complete the file, the stronger the position before the court and during negotiation of an out-of-court settlement.
6. What is the lawyer’s role in a labour dispute?
The lawyer reviews the routes, tachographs and payment receipts, accurately calculates the supplementary work and overtime increments due, and devises a litigation strategy. The lawyer drafts an extra-judicial notice, lodges a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate, and files a lawsuit before the competent Single-Member Court of First Instance under the special procedure for labour disputes. The lawyer represents the driver in labour disputes concerning unlawful dismissal, non-payment of wages owed, or moral damages arising from the employer’s breaches. Timely legal intervention significantly increases the prospects of full satisfaction of the employee’s claims.