Law 5278/2026: National Social Agreement for the Strengthening of Collective Labor Agreements

On 01.02.2026, Law 5278/2026 (Government Gazette A), titled “National Social Agreement for the Strengthening of Collective Labor Agreements” (the “Law”), was published. The Law introduces substantial changes to the regulation of Collective Labor Law. The main pillars of the Law concern:

a) The provision for the possibility of co-signing sectoral collective labor agreements by the third-level trade union organization of employees, the “General Confederation of Greek Workers” (GSEE). Specifically, sectoral agreements may also be co-signed by the third-level trade union organization of employees, the “General Confederation of Greek Workers” (GSEE), following an invitation by a primary or secondary trade union organization representing employees, irrespective of their profession or specialty, in similar or related undertakings of the same sector. Sectoral collective labor agreements must mandatorily include the information necessary for the clear determination of their scope of application, with reference, at a minimum, to the Activity Code Numbers (KAD) of the relevant sector.

b) The simplification of the information required for registration in the General Register of Trade Union Organizations of Employees (GEMISOE) and in the General Register of Employers’ Organizations (GEMIOE), by reducing such information to what is strictly necessary, as well as the redefinition of the legal consequences in the event of non-registration. Specifically, the requirement to disclose funding information is abolished. In the event that a trade union organization of employees does not register with GEMISOE, or fails to submit its details thereto, or fails to keep them updated, then, for as long as such omission persists and until it is remedied, only the rights of the trade union organization to request the extension of a collective labor agreement and to resort to mediation and arbitration shall be suspended.

c) The reinstatement of the post-expiry effect of all normative terms of collective labor agreements, so that after the expiry of a collective labor agreement and the three-month extension of its validity, all its terms continue to apply to the employees to whom it applied, until a new collective or individual agreement is concluded. Specifically, it is provided that the normative terms of a collective labor agreement that expires or is terminated shall continue to apply for three months from its expiry or termination and shall also apply to employees hired during that period. Upon the lapse of the three-month period, all normative terms of the collective labor agreement shall continue to apply until they are replaced by those of a new collective labor agreement or by a new or amended individual employment contract.

d) The facilitation of the extension of the application of collective labor agreements, by reducing the required coverage threshold from fifty percent (50%) to forty percent (40%), as well as by creating the possibility of extension without examination of the quantitative criterion, provided that the agreement is co-signed by GSEE and an employers’ organization of broader representation or nationwide scope.

e) The establishment of a mechanism to review the admissibility of unilateral applications for recourse to mediation and arbitration, and the abolition of the second level of arbitration before the Organization for Mediation and Arbitration.