European Union Secondment Legislation in Greece
The purpose of this report is to provide you with the essential information regarding the European Union Secondment Legislation as in force and implemented in Greece. Nothing on this report or any external hyperlink should be considered as a legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice.
1. Basic Legal Documents
A) The provisions of Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services, have been transposed to the Greek legislation by means of the Presidential Decree (P.D.) 219/2000 “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” (Official Government Gazette 31st of August 2000, 1st Volume, Issue No:190). P.D. 219/2000 applies in cases of posting of workers to the territory of Greece for a limited period of time, in the framework of the provision of services, by undertakings established in a member state or in States which have signed the European Economic Area Agreement.
B) The provisions of Directive 2014/67/EE 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 in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’), has been transposed to the Greek legislation by means of the Presidential Decree (P.D.) 101/2016 “Adaptation of Greek legislation to the provisions of Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 15th of May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and the amendment of regulation (EU) no: 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (“IMI” Regulation)” (Official Government Gazette 26th of September 2016, 1st Volume, Issue No:178).
2. Scope of Application
Presidential Decree 219/2000 applies to undertakings established in an EU Member State or in a non-EU Member State that has signed the Agreement on the European Economic Area, which, in
the framework of the transnational provision of services, post workers, where such posting falls under one of the following cases:
(a) post workers on their account and under their direction, under a contract concluded between the undertaking making the posting and the party for whom the services are intended, operating in Greece, provided there is an employment relationship between the undertaking making the posting and the worker during the period of posting;
(b) post workers to an establishment or to an undertaking owned by the group of which the posting undertaking is a member provided there is an employment relationship between the undertaking making the posting and the worker during the period of posting;
(c) being a temporary employment undertaking or placement agency, hire out a worker to a user undertaking established or operating in the territory of Greece, provided there is an employment relationship between the temporary employment undertaking or placement agency and the worker during the period of posting.
3. Definitions (article 3 of Presidential Decree 219/2000)
For the application of PD 219/2000:
The term “worker” means, any person, bound by a dependent employment relationship, and employed by an undertaking, within the scope of application of the present Presidential Decree.
The term “posted worker” means, any worker, in accordance with the above definition, who usually works in the territory of another E.U. member state or in the territory of a state which has signed the agreement on the European Economic Area and is not an E.U. member state, who is posted by the undertaking to the territory of Greece in order to perform/ carry out his work for a limited period of time, within the scope of application of the present Presidential Decree.
The term “group” means, any group, consisting of a controlling undertaking and controlled undertakings, by virtue of Art.3 P.D. 40/1997(39/A’) (Article 51 of Law 4052/2012 and article 42E of Law 2190/1920 as in force-also article 3 of Presidential Decree 498/1987 and article 33 of P.D. 409/1986).
4. Terms and Conditions of employment applied to posted workers during the period of posting
Undertakings, which post workers in the territory of Greece, must guarantee, irrespective of the law applicable to the employment relationship, the terms and conditions of employment stipulated by
- Greek labor legislation (laws, decrees, ministerial decisions),
- The National General Collective Labour Agreements which specify the minimum non-payroll working terms and conditions applicable to all workers in Greece
- The statutory minimum salary and daily wage ,
concerning the following issues/ covering the following matters:
a) maximum work periods and minimum rest periods
b) minimum paid annual leave
c) minimum wages
d) protection of children and of young people at work
e) protection of pregnant women or women who have recently given birth
f) protection of health, safety and hygiene at work
g) equality of treatment between men and women
h) non-discrimination mainly due to: racial or ethnic origin, color, language, physical or mental illness on condition/ provided that workers are clearly/ is proved that they are capable of carrying out their duties, social origin, part time work, accession or not ot a trade union, political or religious beliefs
i) hiring out of workers to a user undertaking by temporary employment undertakings or by undertakings hiring out workers
Generally, the working conditions that apply to workers posted through a temporary employment undertaking falling under the scope of Presidential Decree 219/2000 are the same as those that apply to any worker posted in Greece.
The above mentioned provisions shall not prevent application of terms and conditions of employment which are more favorable to posted workers.
5. Defence of the rights of the posted workers – Facilitation of Complaints (article 8 P.D. 101/2016)
The local competent authorities of the Labour Inspectorate Body examine every complaint and request submitted by the posted worker regarding compliance with the provisions of article 4 of P.D. 219/2000 and paragraph 7 of this article, both during the posting period and after its completion.
The labour dispute settlement procedure is also applied in cases of posting of workers, according to the relevant national provisions.
Also, regardless of the law governing the employment relation, any person who considers that non-compliance with the terms of P.D. 219/2000 and this, damaged him/ her, even if the employment contract has ended is entitled to judicial proceedings and the right file a complaint before the competent administrative authorities.
Trade Unions and other third parties, such as associations, organisations or other legal entities, which have, in accordance with the criteria laid down by national law, a legitimate interest, may engage, either on behalf or in support of the complainant (either worker or service provider), with his or her approval, in any judicial and/or administrative procedure for the enforcement of P.D. 219/2000 and P.D. 101/2016.
The above rights or any other legal action, can be exercised even after the end or termination of the employment contract, without prejudice to national legislation regarding on limitation periods/time limits for administrative and judicial appeals, as well as on the representation of workers and employers.
Any unfavourable treatment of the posted worker by the employer, due to the exercise of the above mentioned rights by the worker, is prohibited.
6. Procedural and administrative requirements employers who post workers to Greece must comply with – Prior declaration (article 7 of Presidential Decree 101/2016):
In order to ensure effective monitoring of compliance with the provisions of Presidential Decree 219/2000 and Presidential Decree 101/2016, undertakings that post workers to the territory of Greece, have the obligation to submit, at the latest at the commencement of the service provision and irrespective of its duration, to the competent departments of the Labour Inspection Body of the place where services are provided, the following documents, drawn up in Greek:
(a) a written declaration, where the following elements are included:
(i) the name or corporate name and legal status of the service provider
(ii) the identity elements of the undertaking’s legal representative;
(iii) the identity elements, as the above, of the undertakings’ (service provider) representative in Greece during the provision of the services, pursuant to the provisions of par. 1 (cc) of article 5 of P.D. 219/2000, who shall act as liaison officer with the competent Greek authorities (articles 3 and 4 of P.D. 101/2016), and in case required/ necessary, shall send and receive/ deliver the relevant documents;
(iv) the address or addresses of the workplaces where the posted workers shall carry out/ provide their work, as well as the name or corporate name and legal status, seat, address, VAT number of the company or companies where the posted workers shall provide their service;
(v) the start date (date of entry into force of the provision of services) of the provision of services and of the posting, as well their potential duration; and
(vi) the nature of services of the company where the work is provided, as well as the use or not of hazardous materials or methods;
(b) a list of the posted workers, in two (2) copies, where the following elements are recorded for each one of them:
(i) the name, surname, identity or passport number and the issuing country, date of birth, sex and job specialty of the posted workers;
(ii) the date of conclusion/signing of the employment contract, any similar employment experience and their family status;
(iii) the duration of daily and weekly working time, time of daily work beginning and end, time of stop, break of daily work, as well as the weekly rest period; and
(iv) all kinds of paid wages.
Employment of posted workers without the previous/prior submission of the documents provided in par. 1.A and without keeping available and delivering the documents provided by paragraph 1.B of this article, results in the imposition of administrative penalties provided by article 16 hereof.
7. Sanctions
Administrative Penalties (article 16 of P.D.101/2016) > For every violation of the provisions of article 4 of P.D. 219/2000 (terms and conditions of employment of posted workers), of the provisions of par. 3 of article 5 (no provision of information, or provison of faulse/ inaccurate information by the service provider), of the provisions of article 7 (regarding submission/ keeping/ sending the relevant documents) and of the provisions of paragraph 7 of article 8 (unfavourable treatment of the posted worker by the employer, due to the exercise of his/her rights) of P.D. 101/2016, after the necessary notice to defend himself/ herself, a fine provided by the relevant national provisions is imposed to the employer. Penal Sanctions are provided in article 9 of P.D. 219/2000
8. Judicial Authority – Competence
Pursuant to Article 11 of Presidential Decree 219/2000: ‘Irrespective of the law that governs the labour relationship, any disputes arising from application of Article 4 hereof may also be resolved by the Greek courts of law, in accordance with the applicable provisions.