Greece Overhauls Holiday Rules for Employees

Greece is set to introduce a more flexible framework for the granting of annual leave to employees from 2026, aiming to simplify procedures and better accommodate workers’ personal and family needs.

Under the existing system, annual leave was generally required to be granted as a single continuous period, unless an employee requested otherwise. Even then, the law mandated that at least two consecutive weeks had to be taken together.

The new provisions allow employees, following a written request, to split their annual leave into multiple periods. One portion of the leave must include a minimum of five working days for those on a five-day workweek and six days for employees working six days a week.

The timing of leave will continue to be determined by mutual agreement between employee and employer, with neither side allowed to impose dates unilaterally. Any disputes will be referred to the Labour Inspectorate for resolution.

At the same time, the reforms introduce mandatory electronic record-keeping of leave requests, while abolishing the requirement for advance notification through the ERGANI employment system. This will be replaced by a retrospective declaration submitted the following month.

The updated framework removes the employer’s ability to split leave at their own initiative, a change that may require operational adjustments for some businesses. However, it is expected to reduce bureaucracy and give employees greater control over managing their time off.

Annual leave entitlements remain proportional to length of service:

• Five-day workweek: 20 days per year

• Six-day workweek: 24 days per year

Leave continues to accrue based on time worked and may be taken in instalments up to 31 March of the following year.

Leave entitlements increase with seniority. In the second year of employment, annual leave rises by one day for each additional year of service, up to 22 days for a five-day schedule and 26 days for a six-day schedule. From the third year onward, employees are entitled to their full annual leave at any point during the year.

Collective labour agreements may provide for 25 or 30 days of leave for employees with at least 10 years of service with the same employer, while an additional day is granted to those with 25 years or more of total service.

The provision requiring 50% of employees to take leave between May and September remains in force, although it is increasingly viewed as outdated. Annual leave continues to be granted by agreement and cannot be imposed unilaterally.