The Athens Bar Association expresses its strong opposition to the orientation of the central provisions of the labor law to be advised, in particular with regard to dismissals, the strengthening of individual negotiations for the drafting of employment contracts, the abolition of the fixed 8-hour series and the expansion of permitted Sunday work , the reduction and erosion of collective labor rights (collective bargaining and the right to strike) and the protection of trade union activities, the reduction of additional costs and the organization of working hours through individual employer-employee agreements.
The provisions go in the right direction, such as the abolition of worker-worker discrimination, the quasi-reversal of the burden of proof for the invalidity of the dismissal in certain limited cases, the control of overtime, the “right of suspension” in teleworking, the regulation of violence and Harassment at work and the compatibility of family and work (paternity leave, care leave, extension of maternity leave, digital ID, etc.).
However, the above regulations neither negate the heterogeneous nature of the draft law to the detriment of the employee nor the fact that the draft law is at the center of the deregulation of individual and collective labor relations, and in view of the fact that any judicial protection should be in the context of the dramatic slow administration of justice in Labor disputes before the courts of the country, but also the limited provision of temporary legal protection.
Among other things, the current protection against dismissal will be abolished and the framework will be created to encourage dismissals and at the same time to mitigate the consequences of the employer’s default, since the basic right of the employee to re-employment due to the default of the employer due to invalid dismissal his right to additional legal compensation without evidence and without accumulation rights in the lawsuit, the employer is encouraged not to pay the severance payment in full and this is reduced, the employer can enforce the termination within 4 months in the event of fundamental deficiencies (document – the working hours are reduced with the consent of the bargaining employee Legitimate working hours elasticize, collective bargaining undermined, the exercise of the right to strike difficult and the protection of the protected trade unionists.
The provisions of the draft law increase rather than mitigate the bargaining inequality of the parties to the detriment of the worker and generally state that individual bargaining in an environment of slow administration of justice increases the procedural difficulties given to the weaker part, i.e. the worker.
Against this background and under the given circumstances, we call on the government not to press for a vote and Parliament not to vote on the draft law, so that there is enough time and a meaningful and fruitful dialogue with the social partners can take place.
Mina Moustaka
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