“We facilitate the exercise of the electoral rights of our fellow citizens. Our priority is to defend the right to vote of all citizens”, said the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Domna Michailidou.

In this context, it was published in the Government Gazette the ministerial decision on the “granting of a special leave of absence, with wages, for the exercise of the right to vote, in view of the upcoming European elections of June 9, 2024”.

The ministerial decision provides that all industrial, craft and commercial enterprises, holdings and operations of the private sector, as well as those who generally employ staff and fall under the private sector, are obliged to grant their staff a special leave of absencewith salaries, to facilitate the exercise of the right to vote, during the upcoming European elections of June 9.

The number of days of leave of absence, which is granted for the above purpose and which covers the absolutely necessary time for the staff to go to the place of exercising their right to vote and return from it, is determined as follows:

A. For employees for whom a six-day weekly work regime applies:

a) Those who move to exercise their right to vote at a distance of 100-200 kilometers are granted a leave of one working day.

b) Those who move 201-400 kilometers are granted a leave of two working days.

c) Those who travel a distance of 401 kilometers or more are granted a leave of three working days, as long as they travel entirely by road, based on their responsible declaration.

d) For those who travel to and from islands, for which there is no road access, the number of days of leave granted will be examined on a case-by-case basis depending on the distance and the special conditions of travel, without, however, the leave in these cases exceeding the three working days.

B. For employees for whom a five-day weekly work regime is applied:

a) Those who move to exercise their right to vote at a distance of 200-400 kilometers are granted a leave of one working day.

b) Those who travel a distance of 401 kilometers or more are granted a leave of two working days, as long as they travel entirely by road, based on their responsible declaration.

c) For those who travel to and from islands, for which there is no road access, the number of days of leave granted will be examined on a case-by-case basis depending on the distance and the special conditions of travel, without, however, the leave in these cases exceeding the three working days.

For those of the employees who move according to the above, Sunday June 9, 2024 is a working day, this is considered a day of special leave of absence, with wages, in addition to those defined in the decision.

The granted leave is not offset against the paid annual leave.

It is noted that the employees who will make use of the special electoral permit are obliged to present to their employer a certificate from a competent body, from which the participation in the elections will be explicitly stated.