Remote Work in Greece

Telework has had a dedicated statutory framework since 2021, which is now codified in the Labour Code (Art. 130). Telework is defined as remote performance of dependent work using technology, under any form of employment contract, that could also be done at the employer’s premises.

Telework must be agreed between employer and employee, at hiring or by amending the contract. It cannot be imposed unilaterally. Two exceptions apply:

• The employer may impose telework for public-health reasons declared by ministerial decision
• The employee may request telework on documented health-risk grounds. The Labour Inspectorate resolves disputes

The employer bears the cost of telework, including equipment (unless use of the employee’s own equipment is agreed), telecommunications, maintenance and repair, and technical support.

A ministerial decision sets minimum monthly amounts of €13 for the home workspace, €10 for telecommunications, and €5 for equipment maintenance, up to €28 in total. The €10 is not payable where the employer contracts directly with the internet or telephone provider, and the €5 is not payable where the employer supplies the equipment. In months with fewer than 22 telework days, the amounts are reduced proportionally at one twenty-second per telework day.

The Labour Code states that these payments are not subject to tax or other levies and attract no employer or employee social-insurance contributions.

Within eight days of telework starting, the employer must inform the employee, by any suitable means, including email, of the terms that differ because of telework. At minimum, these cover:

• The right to disconnect
• The breakdown of the extra costs and how the employer covers them
• The equipment, and its support and repair procedures
• Any restrictions on using the equipment or IT tools, and the consequences of breaching them
• Any tele-availability agreement, with its time limits and response deadlines
• Health-and-safety terms and the accident-reporting procedure
• Data-protection obligations for business data and the teleworker’s personal data.

Items that are not individual to the employee may be published on the company intranet or in a policy instead.

Subject only to differences inherent in telework, teleworkers have the same rights and obligations as comparable on-site employees, including workload, evaluation criteria, rewards, access to information, training, and career development.

Key protections include:

• Performance monitoring must respect privacy and data protection
• Using a webcam to monitor performance is prohibited
• Teleworkers have a statutory right to disconnect outside working hours and during leave
• Employees cannot be treated adversely for exercising that right
• Employers must put in place the technical and organisational measures needed to make disconnection effective