Working time and flexibility in Greece
| Autor | Evangelos Angelopoulos - Panagiotis Boumpoucheropoulos |
| Cargo | Attorney at Law, LL.M., PhD student - Attorney at Law, PhD, Legal Department, Bank of Greece |
| Páginas | 34-46 |
IUSLabor 1/2016
23
WORKING TIME AND FLEXIBILITY IN GREECE
Evangelos Angelopoulos
Attorney at Law, LL.M., PhD student
Panagiotis Boumpoucheropoulos
Attorney at Law, PhD, Legal Department, Bank of Greece
Introduction
Working time legislation in Greece is not codified/consolidated in a single statute,
hence treated in a piecemeal manner and giving grounds for
interpretative/jurisprudential conflicts. Recognized sources of working time law are the
Greek Constitution and statute law (Laws/Presidential Decrees/Ministerial Decisions),
the EU primary/secondary legislation (most often EU Directives adopted nationally in
the form of Presidential Decrees or Laws), the International Labour Conventions
signed/ratified by the Greek State, the European Social Charter, the collective labour
agreements (taken place at national, regional, sectoral/industrial, or enterprise level) and
finally the individual labour contract between the employer and the employee.
The vast majority of full-time workers enjoys a typical 8-hour workday and a 40-hour
workweek, but the actual average number of usual weekly hours of work is 44.2
(Eurostat, 2014), one of the highest within the EU. According to the most recent
available data (Eurostat, 2014), part-time workers accounted for 9.3% of the Greek
labour force. It is important to note that this percentage has almost doubled since the
beginning of the fiscal/financial crisis and the following deregulation of the Greek
Labour Law (5.9% in 2009 and 6.7% in 2012). Women dominate part-time work
market, with a percentage as high as 60.5%. The main (non-voluntary) reason that lead
to part-time work is the extremely dire condition of the Greek economy/labour market
and hence the impossibility for the majority of job seekers of finding a full-time job.
Another –gender-focused and societal– reason is that women, who are still
disproportionately burdened by household duties, find part-time work more compatible
with their daily routine and household obligations (upbringing of children, care of
parents, chores etc.).
1. Does the regulation of working time in your country establish a daily, weekly
and/or annual limit of working hours? If so, what is the maximum working hours?
The regulation on working time in the Greek legal system establishes a daily, weekly
and annual maximum working hours. Working time is determined as provided in the
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