ADEDY, the largest public sector trade union, has submitted a formal request to the Council of State to examine the possibility of reinstating the Greek holiday bonus for public sector workers.
All private sector workers in Greece receive holiday bonuses as stipulated in the National General Labor Code of 2010 and the Individual Labor Law Code. The bonuses are calculated based on a worker’s salary and the amount of time they have worked for an employer, and equal a 13th and 14th salary over the course of a year.
These bonuses were eliminated for public sector workers under the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy Framework (Law 4093/2012) austerity measures imposed during Greece’s long economic crisis.
The reinstatement of these benefits has been an ongoing demand of public sector workers’ unions. With their request ADEDY aims to determine whether the legislature’s ongoing refusal to reinstate these benefits aligns with constitutional provisions and EU laws.
The request was prompted by a civil servant’s lawsuit at the Athens Administrative Court of First Instance seeking the reinstatement of these payments. ADEDY intervened in the case and simultaneously filed the request to resolve the issue comprehensively for all public sector employees.
In a statement, ADEDY argued that the 13th and 14th salaries continue to be paid in the private sector creating inequities between public and private employees: “Today, as never before, it is imperative that gifts for public sector workers be restored, on the one hand for reasons of social justice as the 13th & 14th salaries are paid in the private sector and on the other hand for reasons of dignity, economic and social survival. “
The union’s request argues that maintaining the abolition of these allowances violates constitutional principles including proportionality, social solidarity, and the state’s obligation to ensure social justice. It also invokes EU Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages and Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which includes the right to fair working conditions as reasons for reinstating the bonuses.
The Council of State previously ruled the abolition of holiday bonuses was constitutional but left open the possibility of reconsideration if fiscal conditions improved. ADEDY asserts that now the improved economic situation justifies revisiting the decision.
Should the Council of State accept the request, the model trial is expected to take place between April and May 2025.
