Easy and quick recruitment, reducing bureaucracy, modernization of labor provisions and enhancing health and safety in the work will carry – among other things – the bill The Minister of Labor, Niki Kerameos on Monday (30.6.2025).
The Ministry of Labor today (2.7.2025) publicized some questions with answers for more clarifications on this new labor market bill “Fair Work for All: Simplification of Legislation – Employee Support – Protection in Practice”.
16 Answers to Questions related to the new bill
1. With two conversations, what does the new labor bill foreseen?
The new bill comes from the labor market, as many of its arrangements have been proposed by employees and businesses and solves practical issues in the labor market. Summary:
- Simplifies procedures (removes forms, accelerates and facilitates recruitment for all), limiting bureaucracy
- Introduces Settings that strengthen workers
- Strengthens Labor Inspection checks in order to have more faithful observance of labor legislation
2. How does the bill support workers in their daily lives?
Provides indicative:
- Greater freedoms for employees in arrangement of working time, eg the ability for a parent to work 4 days a week and be with their child on the 5th day for the whole year, and not just for a semester that is currently in force
- Greater freedom in the request that the employee can submit to distribute the annual leisure permit
- More women to be beneficiaries of pregnancy and rationality allowance
- Parental leave allowance to be tax -free, unmistakable and unmistakable
- Many arrangements for further protection of health and safety at work (eg the compulsory presence of health and safety coordinator in technical projects, depending on their size, to prevent accidents at work)
- The ability to work in rotating work – if wishes – in overtime with salary increased by 40% (eg in work 4 days a week)
- The ability to work up to 13 hours a day (exceptionally) to an employer with a 40% increase in pay
- Education in first aid courses (CPR, Heimlich)
- Expansion of maternity leave and to foster mothers
- The explicit prohibition of reducing remuneration after applying the digital work card.
3. How does the Business Bill facilitate?
Provides:
- Great simplification of the recruitment process
- Fast-track fixed-time recruitment for up to 2 days for urgent needs
- Remove many forms whose information is already undergoing the ERGANI II Information System
- Further exemption of surcharges in insurance contributions for overwork, overtime, nightclubs and holidays
- Special Application for Employers (Myergani)
- Merger policies against force and harassment.
4. The new bill is abolished in the 8 -hour and established a 13 -hour daily employment?
No. The eight -hour daily employment is acquired and remains in complete power. In every European country, as in our own, there is the possibility of overtime following an employee and business agreement and under certain conditions. Today, an employee has the ability to work exceptionally up to 13 hours daily in two or more employers.
With the bill, the possibility of 13 -hour employment extends to employees employed by an employer, provided that the limits of rest and maximum weekly working hours are strictly respected and the payment of legal increases from overtime (plus 40%). Indeed, with the new arrangement the employee is favored by salary. Example: Employee who is employed by two employers and is paid 8 euros per hour if he is employed 13 hours in two employers will be paid a salary of 104 euros. If employed at a single employer will receive 119 euros in the same hours.
5. Can the employer oblige an employee to work 13 hours a day?
No. Working overtime employee (ie 10th to 13th in one day) requires his consent.
6. Can the employer refuse to pay overtime if the employee is employed beyond his planned hours?
No, it can’t. Anyone who works overtime is entitled to a fee equal to the hourly wage paid by 40%. This is also guaranteed by the application of the digital work card, as if the overtime is not declared, the additional time is considered illegal and a 120%increase is due.
7. Can an employee work 13 hours a day all year?
No, the maximum working time is 48 hours a week in a 4 -month reference period, and the maximum overtime limit of 150 hours per year. Therefore, an employee can work 13 hours a day up to a total of 37.5 days a year.
8. Can the employer fired a worker by simply sending a text message (SMS)?
No. There is no such provision in the bill. Nothing changes absolutely in the current institutional framework for redundancies.
9. What is changing in the annual leisure permit? Will the employer be able to refuse to grant it whenever the employee wishes to receive?
To date, by law, the license had to be obtained by the employee indivisible at one time, and at the request of the employee it was possible to divide the leave time, but the 2 weeks had to be taken continuously. The new bill enables the employee the opportunity to claim his / her license to divide more times if he / she wishes. B.C. It will be able to receive its annual leave in part in 4 different periods within the same year if it wishes. The license period is selected in consultation with the employer.
10. I work on a rotation regime, 4 days a week. Why can’t I be overwhelming if I wish?
With the new regulation, the rotation employees will have the right to work in addition to their eight -hour period, receiving the corresponding 40% increase for each hour of overtime if they wish. For example, someone who works in a restaurant that operates Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be able to complete his income and overtime if he wishes.
11. Does the employer have the right to reduce the salary on the grounds of submitting his professional industry to the digital work card?
No. With the bill, the reduction of earnings, immediately after the application of the digital work card, is considered a unilateral harmful change and is prohibited.
12. Why can a worker work 4 days a week for only six months? The remaining six months, what will he do? How will he meet the need that led him to this choice?
To date, the 4 -day work (10 hours a day), in consultation with the employer, is valid for six months. With the new bill, this feature is given for the whole year. Any employee, without restriction, for example a parent with a minor child, will be able to work on a 4 -day basis throughout the year, upon consultation with the employer.
13. I am a working mother who worked in 2 different employers and insured in two different funds. Although I completed 200 stamps, I did not receive the pregnancy and pregnancy allowance.
A regulation that brings the new bill is corrected this distortion and hereinafter a mother will receive a pregnancy and pregnancy allowance having completed 200 stamps, regardless of the number of insured funds and employers from whom it has been employed. In addition, the parental license allowance is guaranteed as tax -free, unexplained and irrelevant, and extending the post -maternity license and foster mothers.
14. I am a retired worker and with the increase in income from my salaried work I run the risk of imposing a solidarity levy.
The new bill has included a provision that, when the worker retired is entitled to an increase in his / her pension from his work, the additional benefit will not lead to an increase in the coefficient of the solidarity levy.
15. With the recent exemption of surcharges from insurance contributions to overtime, overtime, nocturnal and holidays you extend to surcharges provided for by collective agreements as well as to surcharges granted voluntarily by the employer and the employer is not at risk?
As evidenced by the data, the opposite is exactly the case. In April, insurance funds revenue increased by 48% in a month, because many more businesses reported overtime and night employment, holidays and overwork. Correspondingly, overtime workers’ earnings increased by 62%. And this is the result of a reduction in the cost of contributions.
16. Do the changes you make at the level of individual labor law do not undermine future discussions on the conclusion of collective agreements?
It’s two different things. Along with the reforms made under Individual Labor Law (ie this bill), discussions on collective labor law are being held with the focus of encouraging collective agreements.
Proof of the above are the favorable changes brought about by the new bill in favor of workers and at the same time the increase in the signing of new collective agreements in recent times (signature of hotel employees, banking employees, SEA signature for the first time in the metal industry. lower salary is higher than minimum wage).