Provisions and sanctions in case of non-granting of the employees’ annual leave in Greece
With Article 61 of Law 4808/2021, which amended Article 4 of Law No. 539/1945, it is noted that the final date of exhaustion of the annual leave to which each employee is entitled is March 31 of the following calendar year, while based on the previous regime the permit was to be granted until the end of each year. Therefore, the annual leave (for example) of the year 2023 must be granted until March 31, 2024. Furthermore, according to article 2A para. d of No. 49758/2022 (Government Gazette 2668B’/2022) MD of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs is noted that: “A declaration of the granted leaves shall be submitted by census, within the first ten days of the month following the month of their granting“. According to article 7 par. 1 of Directive 2003/88 the leave is granted as is. In the event that the leave is not granted within the above time limit, the employee’s claim for his leave to be granted is converted into a monetary one and the employee is entitled to request compensation for the days of leave not taken.
In addition, in case of breach of the employer’s obligation to grant the employee the annual leave, civil, administrative and criminal penalties are provided. Specifically:
(a) Civil Sanctions: According to article 5 par. 1 of art. 539/1945, the employer who refuses to grant the leave to the employee is obliged to pay him the corresponding allowances for the leave he did not receive, increased by 100%. This increase only concerns wages and not leave allowance. The payment of the surcharge is only required in cases where the employer refuses to grant the leave despite the employee’s request.
(b) Administrative Sanctions: According to Ministerial Decision No. 80016/2022 (Government Gazette 4629B’) regarding violations of labor legislation, in cases of non-compliance with the permit obligations, the Labor Inspection Service is entitled to impose the following fines:
| Violation | Amount of fine |
| Non-granting of normal leave | €900 per employee |
| Late submission of information regarding leave taken and leave allowance | €300 to €2,000 depending on the number of employees |
| Non-disclosure electronically to the “ERGANI” system of data regarding the obtained leave and leave allowance of the staff | €500 to €3,000 depending on the number of employees |
| Violation of provisions on the division of leave time | €600 per employee |
| Non-payment of full leave benefits or a proportion thereof of | €900 per employee |
| Non-payment of leave allowance and leave allowance ratio of | €900 per employee |
| Non-presentation of the Book of Annual Normal Permits | €300 to €2,000 depending on the number of employees |
(c) Criminal sanctions: According to article 5 par. 7 of the a.n. 539/1945 the employer who does not grant leave out of intention is also subject to criminal liability and in particular article 28 of law 3996/2011 provides that: “1. Any employer who violates the provisions of the labor legislation related to the terms and conditions of work and specifically the time limits of work, subject to paragraphs 5 and 6 of article 31 of Law 3904/2010 (A’ 218), the payment of accruals, remuneration, safety and health of employees or the payment of statutory severance compensation, shall be punished by a prison sentence of at least six months or a fine of at least nine hundred (900) euros or both. 2. Special provisions of labor law that provide for heavier criminal treatment remain in force.“
Due to the importance of annual leave for the employee’s rest, recreation and mental health, the legislator provides for severe penalties in case of violation of the relevant provisions. It is pointed out that the payment of the compensation for the leave not taken does not exclude the risk of administrative fines being imposed by the Labor Inspectorate in the event that the leave is not granted by March 31.