IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? Greece has implemented the EU’s enforcement directive on posted workers, imposing new requirements on companies that send or receive workers to Greece for temporary assignments.

What does the change mean? Employers must notify the appropriate Labour Inspectorate’s office on or before a posted worker’s first day of work in Greece. Employers must identify a local representative to act as a liaison between authorities and the sending company. Employers must also keep certain documents available for inspection in Greece, including employment contracts, payslips, proof of salary payments, timesheets and documents on company holidays and overtime pay. Documents not originally in Greek must be accompanied by translated copies.

  • Implementation time frame: Immediate and ongoing. A presidential decree to implement the EU directive was issued last year, but it took some time for procedural issues to be worked out.
  • Visas/permits affected: Posted worker notifications.
  • Who is affected: EU/EEA companies sending employees to work in Greece.
  • Business impact: The changes add administrative steps and document-retention requirements to the process.

Background: Greece adopted the new rules to comply with the EU’s 2014 enforcement directive on posted workers. Under the rules, notifications must be submitted in writing by the employer or an authorized representative at the Labour Inspectorate’s office that is closest to the local company’s work site. The notifications must include the employee’s name, passport number and country of issuance, date of birth, gender, family status, job, previous related work experience, salary, work schedule and timesheets. It also must include the employer’s name, tax number, email address, telephone and fax number and general commercial registry number. Companies also must include information about their representative in Greece and the sending company’s legal representative, including their name, parents’ names, date or birth, work address, home address and phone number. The local representative must be available to make documents available upon request by authorities. Authorities must be notified not only before posted workers begin their assignments, but also when there are any changes to the nature or length of the assignments. Local companies must keep the documents listed above for at least two years after an assignment has ended and should be able to make them available upon request for inspection.

BAL Analysis: Affected companies should make sure they follow Greece’s new secondment procedures and documentation requirements. Questions about individual cases should be directed to a BAL professional.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Greece. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

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