Labour Law & Employment Law Trends in Greece & the EU

In an era of rapid regulatory evolution, digital transformation, cross-border workforce mobility and specialised sectoral demands, employers operating in Greece and across the EU face increasingly complex labour-law and employment-compliance challenges. For organisations in construction, technology, international secondments and other fluid environments, staying ahead of legal developments is not just advisable, it is strategic. This article reviews the major trends in EU and Greek labour law, highlights the key issues for companies deploying foreign labour or mobile workforces, and identifies what makes a service-provider valuable from the perspective of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and globally operating companies.

Key EU-level labour-law trends

a) Harmonisation, minimum standards and digitalisation
The EU emphasises that national labour-law frameworks must deliver minimum working-conditions rights, including working time, part-time/fixed-term contracts and posting of workers. In parallel, digitalisation of employment records and transparency obligations are becoming increasingly prominent. For example, across the EU there is a move toward digital work-time registration and enhanced labour-market oversight.

b) Platform economy, worker classification and greater protections
Companies operating in the platform economy or relying on contractor/freelancer models must watch for evolving classification risks. The new legislative focus at EU level on platform workers strengthens protections and raises potential exposure for companies using non-standard labour. For MNEs and tech firms, this means auditing how workers are classified, ensuring conformity with host-state labour regimes and monitoring secondment and posting models.

c) Pay-transparency, ESG & supply-chain labour-law linkages
Labour regulation increasingly intersects with ESG (environment, social governance) and supply-chain obligations. For example, the Adequate Wage Directive (2022/2041) aims to strengthen minimum-wage levels and collective-bargaining coverage across the EU. Companies with large or mobile workforces must consider how labour-law compliance flows into sustainability disclosures, subcontractor liability and human-rights due diligence.

d) Flexible working, remote/hybrid models and working-time regimes
Remote and hybrid working models are now part of the “new normal.” Consequently, working-time organisation, flexible arrangements, right to disconnect and hybrid-work domestic rules are gaining regulatory importance. Companies must understand how national rules (in Greece or elsewhere) overlay EU minimums.

Key trends in Greece

a) Corporate restructuring, transfers of undertakings & liability
In Greece, major recent legislation such as Presidential Decree 80/2022 has provided a clearer framework for individual employment law and business transfers. Where an economic entity is transferred, the acquired rights of employees (such as remuneration, seniority) must be protected and the transferee may be subject to joint and several liability. For construction or M&A driven companies, identifying employment-liabilities in business transfers is critical.

b) Labour-law modernisation, digitalisation and working-time flexibility
Greek law has been modernised: for example, digital work-time registration under “ERGANI II” is required for many employees. Moreover, the draft (and now debated) legislation commonly referred to as “Fair Work for All” aims to simplify hiring, increase flexibility and digitise procedures. Significantly, recent reforms allow flexible working-time arrangements (e.g., reference periods up to a year) under certain conditions, enabling increased hours in some periods offset by reduced hours in others. Additionally, a legislative change introduces the possibility (subject to conditions) of up to a 13-hour working-day under certain circumstances. For multinational and construction-sector clients, these developments mean that local working-time, rest-period and overtime regimes must be monitored closely.

c) Foreign-worker deployment, posting, mobility and labour-shortage dynamics
Greece is experiencing labour-shortages in key sectors (construction, tech, logistics), which raises demand for foreign workers and secondments. The legal machine is less well-developed in terms of uniform rules, so advisory capacity in foreign-nationals work-permit, local contracting, posting and social-security interplay is essential. Additionally, the risk of joint liability in subcontracting chains is real in the Greek context: where foreign-workers are deployed or subcontractors used, companies must audit supply-chains for undeclared work or social-security exposure.

d) Compliance risk, supply-chain oversight & subcontracting
Construction and multi-tier subcontracting models raise heightened risk in Greece. The interplay of foreign labour, posting rules, digital record-keeping (digital board “card” systems) and liability for co-contractors means companies must invest in early-warning systems, audit of subcontractors and pre-deployment reviews.

Specific focus: Worker-transfers & cross-border mobility

For companies operating across borders, especially in construction, tech, mobility/secondments, such services matter:

• Posting of workers: When a worker is sent from one EU member state to another or into Greece, the host-state minimum terms apply – remuneration, working time, allowances, inspection risk. Understanding the EU posting regime and how Greece applies it is critical.

• Secondment vs. local hire: Whether a worker remains on the home-country employer payroll and is seconded to Greece (or another EU state) or is locally hired in Greece has major implications for contract law, social-security contributions, tax, termination rights and labour-law compliance.

• Foreign-worker deployment & immigration/work-permit interplay: For non-EU workers, the immigration and work-permit regime must be layered with labour-law compliance. Companies must ensure that local contracts, working time, social-security conversions, bringing-back provisions, exit rights and mobility are structured correctly.

• Joint liability in subcontracting chains: In construction especially, where multiple tiers of subcontractors exist and foreign-workers are employed or posted, the contracting entity may face liability for wage‐social security‐health & safety omissions. A pre-deployment “risk check” service is a differentiator.

• Digitalisation & record keeping: With national reforms in Greece (digital work-time systems, declaration of flexible systems) and EU-wide transparency pressure (e.g., pay transparency, digital employment records), organisations must be ready for audits, digital evidence, contract-templates and cross-border data flows.

What makes a provider attractive to MNEs, construction and tech clients

To appeal to multinationals, construction contractors, technology companies and global mobility programmes, a service provider should emphasise:

• Dual capability in national (Greek) and EU labour law: A deep understanding of how Greek rules (e.g., working time, transfers of undertakings, foreign-workers) interact with EU-directives (minimum standards, posting, platform-economy, pay transparency).

• Cross-border mobility expertise: Ability to coordinate immigration/work-permit, local labour-contracting, social-security and tax issues across borders, thereby delivering a seamless mobility solution rather than isolated labour-law advice.

• Sector-specific insight: For construction (subcontracting chains, site labour, posting), tech (remote/hybrid work, platform-economy, classification risks), and international secondments (mobility programmes, host-/home-state interplay).

• Compliance and risk management orientation: Not just dealing with disputes, but conducting preventive audits (subcontractor labour-compliance, foreign-worker check-lists), mobility-deployment health-checks, supply-chain oversight, digital-record readiness.

• ESG and labour-law convergence: Showing how labour-law compliance ties into sustainability, human-rights in supply chains, pay-transparency, platform-economy exposures—these are high on global boardrooms’ agendas.

• Business-oriented solutions: Recognising that clients need operational tools (contract templates, foreign-worker deployment programmes, secondment playbooks, digital time-card systems), not just legal memoranda.

• Proactive change-monitoring and thought leadership: With rapid legal change (as in Greece’s working-time reform or EU-wide labour-law updates), offering subscription-alerts, bulletins, webinars or client-briefings adds real value and builds long-term relationships.

Strategic recommendations for your website / content positioning

To attract the right clientele and build credibility:

• Publish a regular “Labour & Mobility Insight” blog or bulletin covering Greek/EU updates with operational implications (e.g., “What the 13-hour working-day reform means for construction”, “Platform-economy classification: global tech firms’ checklist”).

• Create sector-specific guides aimed at construction, tech, international secondments: e.g., “Foreign-worker deployment to Greece: what construction contractors must know”, “Seconding tech talent into Greece/Europe: cross-border checklist”.

• Share case-study summaries (anonimised) of successful workforce-mobility projects, secondments, business-transfers, subcontractor audits to demonstrate practical delivery capability.

• Provide downloadable check-lists or tool-kits: e.g., “Pre-deployment labour-compliance checklist for foreign-workers in Greece”, “Subcontractor labour-audit template for MNEs”.

• Offer webinar or workshop events targeted at HR directors, mobility managers, construction-site HR, tech global-mobility leads, focusing on “what’s new in 2025/26” and how it affects operations.

• Emphasise your multijurisdictional network or capability (if available): companies with operations across Europe/elsewhere will appreciate a provider that “speaks both Greek labour law and EU mobility law”.

• Demonstrate thought leadership via articles on hot topics: worker-classification in the platform economy, digital employment-records readiness, joint-liability in multinational supply-chains, cross-border social security and tax for secondments.

Final remarks

The labour-law and workforce-mobility environment in the EU and Greece is evolving at pace. For companies with mobile labour, large workforces, subcontractor chains or technology-driven business models, the risks (mis-classification, cross-border posting non-compliance, foreign-worker deployment, digital-record obligations, working-time liabilities) are very real—but so too are the opportunities to manage these strategically. Service-providers who deliver multi-layered, business-aligned advice, covering Greek labour law, EU mobility law, supply-chain risk, digital-compliance and sector-specific insight, are positioned to become trusted partners to MNEs, construction companies, tech firms and global mobility programmes.