Factsheet for measure
GR-2020-12/2713
–
Updated
– measures in Greece
Transfer of personnel to companies within the same group
Μεταφορά προσωπικού σε επιχειρήσεις εντός του ιδίου ομίλου
Background information
By virtue of the Legislative Act 20 March 2020 'Urgent measures to address the consequences of the spread of COVID-19, to support the society and entrepreneurship, and to safeguard the smooth operation of the market and public administration', businesses that have been financially affected as per their Activity Code Numbers (ACN), or their operation has been suspended under a state decision, may transfer staff from a business to another business of the same group, following an agreement. The measure is meant to be active as long as the measures to counteract the COVID-19 last.
The Presidential Decree 1/2023 “Amendment of Article 7 of the Presidential Decree 101/2016 “Adaptation of Greek legislation to the provisions of Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 for the implementation of Directive 96/71/EC regarding the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and the amendment of Regulation (EU) No. 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (“IMI Regulation”)” (Government Gazette 178/A’ / 26/09/2016) has been adopted.
Content of measure
In the context of emergency and interim measures in the labour market for dealing with and limiting the spread of COVID-19, employers whose businesses are severely affected or are under ban of operation, may transfer staff to another unit of the same group, as long as they are operational. The transfer should follow an agreement: according to Article 10 of the legislative act, the transfer of personnel within the same group can take place with a simple agreement between companies of the group, without the consent of employees.
Group entities that are implementing such measures are required to maintain the same total headcount prior to the transfer. The provision of article 10 does not prohibit the dismissal of employees, in the form of absolute invalidity, but only as an obligation to maintain the same number of jobs throughout the implementation of this measure.
According to the Ministerial Decision (No. 13564/Δ1.4770/2020), which constitutes the new measure, to apply for this programme employers should submit a special document named 'Form 4.4 personnel table for the transfer of personnel to undertakings within the group' to the Ergani-platform, within the first 10 days of the month following the one of the implementation of the transfer.
Funding
National government: Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
The provisions of the Presidential Decree 1/2023 (Α' 1/10.01.2023) concerning the posting of workers apply to companies established in the 27 member states of the European Union, in the states that have signed the agreement on the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland.
Posted worker means any employee who is linked to a dependent labor relationship with a company based in the territory of a member state of the European Union, the E.E.A. or Switzerland and whom the company posts to the territory of another Member State to perform its work for a limited period of time.
The posting of workers is carried out by a company that:
* entered into a contract for the provision of services with the recipient of the services in Greece, as long as there is an employment relationship between the company of the Member State of origin and the person who is posted,
wishes to post its employee to a company of the same group in the territory of Greece, as long as there is an employment relationship between the company and the posted person
in the case of a Temporary Employment Company or a company that has employees at an indirect employer that is established or carries out its activities in Greece, as long as there is an employment relationship between the Temporary Employment Company or the company that has employees at an indirect employer and the employee.
The “group of enterprises” means any group that includes a controlling undertaking and controlled undertakings. In particular, the “group of enterprises” is characterized by common management, common economic policy, common financing, in a word, common economic interests.
The Decree stipulates the mandatory provisions that must be observed with regard to the working conditions and the protection of the health and safety of workers during their posting in relation to the free provision of services without affecting provisions that guarantee their fundamental rights (such as the right to information and consultation, strike and negotiation).
The time limit for the posting of an employee is 12 months and can be extended up to 18 months after a reasoned notification to the Labour Inspectorate before the expiration of the 12 months.
The employer who posts employees to the territory of Greece is obliged to provided the competent Department of the Labour Relations Inspection with a) a written statement (including the service provider's data -name - address - legal form - tax registry number - etc.- the address or addresses of the places where the posted workers will provide their work - the start date of the provision of the services and the posting of the workers, as well as their possible duration, and the nature of the practiced activity of the enterprise in which the work is provided); b) statement of posted workers, in two copies (one posted, by the companies, in a visible place at the workplace, while the other will remain in the Labour Inspectorate), in which the name, surname, identity card or passport number and country of issue, date of birth, gender and specialty will be written for each of them.
There is no available information on the posting of workers since the publication of the Presidential Decree 1/2023.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
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10 April 2020
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Transfer of personnel is regulated by law. The difference between the previous regime and the extraordinary measure presented here is that before the pandemic the transfer of personnel could be considered as a unilateral harmful change of the employee's working conditions and therefore abusive. The measure (GR/2713) applied due to the pandemic was more flexible in its application; Article 10 of Law 4683/10 April 2020 ratifying the Act of Legislative Content (20 March 2020) has not terminated up to now.
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Use of measure
Although it is stated that this measure can be taken in the context of extraordinary and temporary measures in the labour market, due to COVID-19, there is no explicit provision for its time validity or for the maximum time the transfer is taking on. Since the ultimate purpose of the measure is to maintain employment status through the flexible movement of employees, within the same group of companies, it should not be abused nor used for the purpose of concealing permanent staff transfer.
Target groups
Actors and funding
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Actors
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Funding
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National government
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No special funding required
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Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
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Trade unions
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Employers' organisations
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Role
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Unknown
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Unknown
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Form
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Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
-
Unknown
-
Main level of involvement: Unknown
Involvement
Unknown
Views and reactions
Unknown
Sources
