According to the Protection of Maternity Law of 1997 a pregnant worker is entitled to maternity leave for 18 consecutive weeks. Of this, 11 weeks is considered compulsory leave (two weeks before the week of the expected delivery date, the week of delivery and eight weeks after the week of delivery).
A woman worker is entitled to maternity leave on presenting a medical certificate from a registered doctor stating the expected week of her delivery.
In case of multiple babies, maternity leave is extended by 4 weeks for each additional baby.
For health reasons of an infant (hospitalization), a new mother may be granted one additional week of maternity leave for every 21 days of hospitalization provided that the total additional leave may not exceed 6 weeks.
An employed woman who adopts or takes in to her care a child less than 12 years of age for the purpose of adoption is allowed maternity leave of 16 weeks.
A surrogate mother is also entitled to a maternity leave of a total of 14 consecutive weeks which should start
two weeks before the week of the expected delivery date.
Protection against Dismissal
The employed woman is protected against termination or notice of termination of employment during the period starting when she notifies her employer of her pregnancy and ending 5 months after maternity leave. This does not apply in cases where the employed woman is found guilty of a misdemeanour, or the business at which she is employed closes down or the contract period has expired.
Women who gave birth may interrupt their employment for one hour or go to work one hour later or leave work one hour earlier until the baby turns 9 months old. The one-hour excuse period is considered working time.
Relevant Legislation
The Protection of Maternity Laws of 1997-2021 (Greek text)