Restructuring legislation

In case of redundancy, every employee is entitled to make use of time off for job search (this is not applicable when employees themselves terminate a contract). Employees can demand at least one fifth of their weekly working time off during the notice period (Kündigungsfrist, for details also see: 'Notice periods to employees'), without reduction of income. Time off does not have to be dedicated to job search. The employee is entitled to this, even if s/he has already found a new job.

Following the harmonisation of both blue-collar and white-collar status (in 2014), all workers are allowed to be absent once or twice a week (for a maximum number of hours corresponding to the hours usually worked in one day) during the notice period in order to look for a new job. In this case, the workers are entitled to their salary for the unworked period. The general rule sets that workers may be absent half a day per week during the notice period. The permitted period of absence is extended to one day or two half days per week in some cases:

• During the last 26 weeks of the notice period if the duration thereof exceeds 26 weeks;
• Throughout the period of notice if it is less than or equal to 26 weeks; and
• During the whole notice period for workers in an outplacement scheme.

The Labour Code states that in case of written notice of termination of the labour contract, the employer is obliged to exempt the employee from working for 1 hour per day for the duration of the notice period for the purpose of finding new employment. Employees working 7 or fewer hours per day are not entitled to this right.

During the notice period, the employee is entitled to be absent from work for at least four hours a week for the purpose of seeking new employment. Employees are entitled to be paid for this time off. The law does not specify or exempt any particular groups of workers, so it can be deemed that all workers have this right. There is no specific provision for part-time workers. 

An employer who intends to terminate the employment of an employee who has completed at least 26 weeks of employment has to give a minimum period of notice depending on the employees' duration of service. Article 12 of the Termination of Employment Law provides that during the notice period a redundant employee is entitled to take time off from normal working time for seeking new employment, without loss of pay. The time off is taken in agreement with the employer and cannot exceed 8 hours per week. The total time off for seeking new employment cannot exceed 40 hours from the date of the notice until the termination of employment.

Time off for job search with refund of wages is provided to a maximum of one half day per week before the termination of employment due to reorganisation, during the notice period of two months. Time off may be accumulated and taken in 'one-go' with the consent of the employer. This article is valid both for individual and for collective dismissals (within 30 days dismissals of at least 10 workers in companies with 20-100 employees, at least 10% in companies with 101-300 employees, or at least 30 workers in companies with more than 300 workers) and for all types of contracts (fixed-term contracts, permanent contracts, full-time and part-time contracts).

After the announcement of redundancy, the employer must give the employee time off to find new employment. However, the amount of time is not specified, but the time off must be feasible for the employer and not entail unreasonably high expense.

Unless otherwise agreed by the employer and the employee, the employee is entitled during the period of notice to take fully paid leave in order to draw up an employment plan with the employment services, to participate in training, or to look for work or attend job interviews. The length of the leave depends on the length of the period of notice:

• a maximum of five working days, if the period of notice is less than one month;
• a maximum of ten working days, if the period of notice is longer than one month but less than four months; and
• a maximum of 20 working days, if the period of notice is longer than four months.

From 1 January 2023, an employee who has turned 55 and has had an employment for a minimum of five consecutive years at the time of notice is entitled to paid leave for:

• a maximum of five working days, if the period of notice is less than one month;
• a maximum of 15 working days, if the period of notice is longer than one month but less than four months; and
• a maximum of 25 working days, if the period of notice is longer than four months.

The employee must notify the employer as early as possible of any plans of and reasons for taking time off. The leave must not cause substantial inconvenience to the employer, and, upon request, the employee is obliged to present an account for each leave.

In general, there is no legal provision which grants employees time off for job search during the notice period. Such provisions, however, may be part of a sectoral or a company-level agreement, or they are stipulated by common practice in the company or the unilateral agreement of the employer. An exception to this rule applies for workers in large companies (more than 1,000 staff) who have been dismissed on economic grounds. They are eligible for time off for job search, so called redeployment leave (congé de reclassement). It is the employers’ responsibility to inform the employees concerned about the possibility to take redeployment leave and about the conditions of the suggested action (purpose, remuneration and benefits, status).  This information is provided : - either at the employee's prior dismissal interview, when the redundancy concerns fewer than 10 employees over a 30-day period; - Or at the last meeting of the work council (social and economic committee - CSE), when the redundancy involves at least 10 employees over a 30-day period. The employer must offer the employee redeployment leave in the letter of dismissal. Employees are given eight days to reply to this proposition. The employer is not obliged to offer redeployment leave if the company is in receivership or compulsory liquidation. In case of a positive reply, the employee’s file is treated by a specialised agency in charge of analysing the candidate’s profile, conducting an interview and suggesting suitable measures. The agency will support the employee to find a new job and can also propose some training.  The leave may last 4 to 12 months and is taken during the notice period. If the employee undergoes retraining, the duration of the redeployment leave may be extended to 24 months (instead of 12 months). If the employee is undergoing training or validation of acquired experience (VAE), the duration of the redeployment leave cannot be less than the duration of these actions, up to a maximum of 12 months. The employee is released from any other tasks during that time. The employment contract with the employer terminates at the end of the leave or when the employee finds a new job. During this leave, employees receive their regular remuneration from the employer. If the training leave exceeds the notice period, the employer continues to pay a part of the employee’s original wage, which may not be less than 65% of their last gross salary over a 12-month reference period and not below 85% of the national minimum wage (€1,485.12 as of 1 May 2023). The allowance is exempt from social security contributions. However, it is subject to social security contributions (CSG at a rate of 6.20% and CRDS at a rate of 0.5%).

In case of dismissal or termination of a fixed-term contract, the employer has to agree to 'adequate' time off for the affected employee to search for new employment. The right applies to workers on a permanent and fixed-term contract, but not to casual workers and interns. The Civil Code does not specify any requirements regarding the time off for job search or its duration. In practice, the employee has to apply for time off for job search at least two days in advance and in written form. Specific information of the name of a potential employer does not have be be given. The employer is prohibited from asking the employee to use holidays for job search. 

-By virtue of art. 65, Law 4808/2021 following termination with prior notice, the employer may, wholly or partially, release the employee from their obligation to provide work up to the effective termination date, while paying their full remuneration. During that period, the employee may be absent from work, and at the same time, continue to be paid the respective salary amount. It is also provided that the employee may be employed by another employer during 'garden leave', without affecting the termination of the employment relationship, or the employee’s entitlement to the severance amount. -By virtue of art. 677 of Civil Code: when an employment agreement of indefinite duration is terminated (under any condition), the employee has the right to request the necessary free time to look for another job before the date of termination of the employment relationship, if he/she does not otherwise have enough time to do so. The amount of time off which is necessary is decided on a case-by-case basis.

In the event of dismissal, the employer shall exempt the employee concerned from work duty for at least half of the notice period. The notice period is set as follows:

• 0-3 years spent at the workplace: 30 days;
• 3-5 years: 35 days;
• 5-8 years: 45 days;
• 8-10 years: 50 days;
• 10-15 years: 55 days;
• 15-18 years: 60 days;
• 18-20 years: 70 days;
• 21 or more years: 90 days.

Any fraction of a day shall be applied as a full day. This time off work after dismissal should be allocated in not more than two parts, at the employee’s discretion. For the period of being exempted from work duties, the employee shall be entitled to absentee pay, except if he/she was not eligible for any wages otherwise. If the employee was exempted from work permanently prior to the end of the notice period, and a circumstance occurred that prevents the payment of wages (such as illness making the employee unfit for work) after this time, the wages already paid may not be reclaimed by the employer. The above provisions do not apply under fixed-term contracts, trial periods or in the case of immediate dismissals, where wrongdoing by either party is alleged. In these cases no time off or notice period is offered by law.

An employee being made redundant is entitled, during the two weeks ending on the expiration of the notice of dismissal, to 'reasonable time off during the employee's working hours', in order to look for new employment or make arrangements for training for future employment. An employee is entitled to be paid for this time off but must have at least two years' service to enable this provision. The employer is entitled to request evidence from the employee to show that the time off is for the purpose prescribed.  Any dispute arising from this entitlement can be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission.

If an employee is made redundant (both in individual and collective dismissal) due to restructuring of the company, the employer at the written request of the employee has to grant sufficient time to the employee for seeking other work. The collective agreement or the employment contract shall specify the length of such time and the earnings to be maintained for the employee during this time period.

During the notice period, the employee can request and must be given at least 10% of the former standard working hours to look for a new job, during which the employee retains her remuneration. If the parties agree on more than 10%, payment for the additional part of the working time is decided by mutual agreement.

During the notice period, the employee can request a special leave of a maximum of six days in order to look for a new job. Employees are entitled to be paid during this special leave if they register with the public employment service (ADEM) and prove that they have applied for an available job offer.

Upon termination of an employment contract by the employer with a notice period of at least two weeks, the employee is entitled to time off for the purpose of seeking other employment. Remuneration for this time remains unaffected. Employees will be entitled to two days off if their notice period is between two weeks and one month, and to three days off if the notice period is three months, also in case of redundancy due to bankruptcy of employer. Employees do not need to prove what kind of activity they perform during this time. 

During the prior notice period following the redundancy decision, the employee is entitled to a time credit in order to look for a new job (a time credit of two days per week without reduction of salary until the effective date of the redundancy). These hours can be used by the worker whenever it is convenient as long as three days' notice about his or her intention to use this time is given to the employer.

An employee who will be dismissed is entitled to time off without salary for the purpose of seeking a new job prior to the termination of the employment. This can be up to a maximum of half a day per week during the notice period. Where the employer has given notice or an agreement of termination of employment is due to the following reasons, the employee is entitled to the same time off with salary compensation:

• if the company or business is dissolved or relocated and the employee does not agree with the change;
• if an employee becomes redundant due to change in his or her duties, technical equipment or the reduction in the number of employees is aimed at securing work efficiency, or due to other organisational changes having an impact on employment;
• if the employee has lost his or her ability to perform the work due to changes in health conditions as a result of an occupational disease or the threat of such a disease.

With the employer’s consent, the time off with and without salary compensation can be integrated. An employer may provide an employee with additional time off with or without wage compensation. 

If the employer gives notice of cancellation of the employment contract, the worker shall be entitled to absence from work during the period of notice to search for new employment and to wage compensation for a minimum of two hours per week. In the event of termination of the employment contract for business reasons, an employer who does not offer the worker a new employment contract for another job and informs the employment service of the cancellation of the employment contract must allow the worker to be absent from work for at least one day per week to integrate into activities in the labour market in accordance with existing labour market regulations. The employer shall be obliged to pay wage compensation for the time of absence from work for job search in the amount of 70% of the average monthly wage for full-time work during the past three months.

The employee is entitled to paid leave of six hours per week during the notice period to look for alternative employment when there is an ‘objective’ (justified by external circumstances) dismissal. These conditions apply to both individual and collective dismissals. This right is limited to the notice period which in 2010 was reduced from 30 to 15 days.  According to Law 3/2012, objective dismissal due to economic  reasons is considered valid 'if a negative economic situation arises from the results of the enterprise, in cases such as the existence of current or foreseeable losses, or the persistent drop in its revenues or sales. In this case, a drop in revenue or sales is considered persistent when occurring during 9 consecutive months'. 

Any employee who has received notice of termination is entitled, during the period of notice, to reasonable leave of absence from the employment with full employment benefits in order to visit an employment agency or otherwise to seek work. There are no specific rules quantifying what a reasonable leave is.