European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
-Presidential Decree 80/2022, SECTION IV: 'Business Transfer', Article 354: 'Information and Consultation' -Chapter XII employees’ rights to information and consultation in community-scale undertakings and groups of undertakings in compliance with directive 2009/38/EC/6.5.2009; Article 49 - Objective (Article 1, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Directive); Article 50 - Scope (Article 1, paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Directive); Article 51 - Definitions (Article 2 of the Directive); Article 52 - Controlling undertaking (Article 3 of the Directive); Article 4 of Law 240/2006; 4 of PD 178/2002
-By virtue of art. 354 of the Presidential Decree 80/2022 the transferor's and the successor's employees’ representatives must be informed in due time, and certainly before the employees are directly affected by the transfer, in terms of their employment and working conditions, as of:
the realisation of the transfer; the exact or the eventual date of the transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, financial and social consequences of the transfer as far as the employees are concerned and *the measures to be taken regarding the employees.
The results of the consultations are recorded in minutes in which the final positions of the interested parties are formulated.
In the event that there are no employee representatives in a company or facility for reasons beyond their control, the employer is obliged to inform all employees in writing, in advance.
There is no specific timetable for the information/consultation process to take place. In general, if the employees’ acquired rights are respected, the information procedure will be short (for examle, 20 days is a reasonable time for the conclusion of the information process).
For each violation of the provisions of article 354 (i.e. a breach of the information/consultation process) the Law provides a separate fine on the transferor, the successor, or their representatives which can vary from €147 to €8,804/per violation.
-According to Presidential Decree No. 240/2006, both the employer transferring the business activity and the successor employer have to inform the representatives of their respective employees affected by the transfer of the following:
The meaning of the legal term 'transfer of undertaking' is not defined in the law and it is debated in case law; however, these provisions shall apply to undertakings employing at least 50 employees and establishments employing at least 20 employees.
The transferring employer (transferor) must give that information to the representatives of the employees in good time before the transfer. Likewise, the successor employer must disclose such information to the employee representatives.
In both events, information should be provided in good time, and in any event before the employees are directly affected by the transfer as regards their conditions of work and employment. The legislation does not establish a specific time frame; instead this is defined on a case-by-case basis.
The employer is also obliged to explain the reason for the choice of a dismissals as opposed to other measures.
The consultation process should take place with the view of reaching an agreement and preparing the relevant minutes. The provision is properly implemented whenever it is established that an agreement is sought based on bona fide principles.
Consultation and information of the employee representatives is intended to contribute to the adoption of an agreement that will be 'protective' for employees during a transfer (payment of high compensation to dismissed workers, regulation of important terms and conditions of work, and maintenance of employment by placing workers in different posts, among others).
For the consultations to be effective, however, the employee representatives should be informed in good time, so that they can present constructive proposals.
Where the transferor or the successor employer intend to change the status of their employees, they must enter into early consultations on these measures with the employee representatives in order to reach an agreement. 'Good time' and 'early consultations' for information and consultation are not defined more specifically, but are assessed by the courts depending on the specific conditions of each case. In any case, there is not yet any supreme court decision ruling on reasonable time for information and consultation.
The results of the consultations are recorded in minutes where the final positions of the interested parties are set out. There are no specific provisions requiring the employer to consider the outcome, except the general legal covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which can be implied by court.
The employee representatives with whom the information and consultation take place are generally the works council. For undertakings or establishments with fewer than 50 employees, if there are no official employee representatives, the employees are represented by a three-member committee elected by them. If, for reasons beyond their control, there are no employee representatives in an undertaking or establishment, the employer must inform all employees, in writing and in advance, of the date or proposed date of the transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, economic and social consequences of the transfer for the employees; and the measures envisaged in relation to the employees. The information must take place in good time and simultaneously to all employees.
-According to Law 4052/2012, to enhance the employees’ right to information and consultation in Community-scale undertakings and groups of undertakings and in compliance with Directive 2009/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 (OJ L 122/28/16.5.2009) 'on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees', a European Works Council (EWC) or a procedure for informing and consulting employees is hereby set up for each Community-scale undertaking or group of undertakings. The powers of the EWC and the scope of the employees’ information and consultation procedure, which are governed by this law, are limited to transnational issues. The powers and responsibilities of the EWCs and the scope of the procedures for the purposes of informing and consulting employees concern, as regards Community-scale undertakings, all establishments situated in the Member States, and as regards Community-scale groups of undertakings, all the member companies of the group located in the Member States. For the purposes of this law, the following terms shall have the meaning given below:
'Controlling undertaking' means an undertaking of a group of undertakings which can exercise a dominant influence over another undertaking (the controlled undertaking) by virtue, for example, of ownership, financial participation or other rights provided for in their statutes.
-The Presidential Decree, in general, provides, for the first time, codification of the legislation governing the Individual Labour Law. The codification does not bring about any modification, addition or repeal of provisions but, as it has been argued, it brings together the existing provisions as they apply, with logical and thematic continuity, in order to facilitate the search of the existing institutional framework.
-Law No. 4052/2012 on European Works Councils, transposing EU Directive 2009/38/EC of 6 May 2009, mainly regulates the establishment of employee representatives: works councils have access to all workplaces at any time they see fit, in order to carry out their duties, which include mainly consultation and entering into agreements with the employer in order to improve working conditions and to cooperate with the company’s existing trade unions. Moreover, they enjoy extensive information rights, before the employer proceeds with important decisions regarding the company’s organisation. Works councils also decide jointly with the employer upon various matters including internal rules, health and safety regulations, ongoing education and training.
Although Presidential Decree No. 240/2006 attempts to secure the rights of employees in cases of merger, acquisition, transfer of undertakings and collective dismissals, the institutional framework is not strong enough to protect the employees from the adverse effects of continuous transformation of businesses.
The law does not define a 'transfer of undertaking', however, the provisions shall apply to undertakings employing at least 50 employees and establishments employing at least 20 employees.
A survey conducted in 2013 on trade unionists' views of the implementation of Directive 2002/14/EC (establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community) derived the following conclusions:
In conclusion, trade unionists who took part in the survey said they consider that Directive 2002/14/EC is very important, especially in times of economic crisis when difficulties multiply.
The proposals and suggestions of the trade unionists who were interviewed, which in their view would improve the present situation, are:
Eurofound (2015), Greece: Staff information and consultation on business transfers, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/staff-information-and-consultation-on-business-transfers/greece
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