December Sundays and holidays in Greece

In December 2026, shops in Greece may open, if they choose, on Sundays 13, 20 and 27 December, from 11:00 to 20:00, and stay closed on 25 and 26 December, 1 January and 6 January, which are mandatory public holidays. Anyone who works on a Sunday or on one of those holidays gets a 75% premium, and a working Sunday normally brings replacement rest within the week that starts on that Sunday.

The 2026 festive opening hours (εορταστικό ωράριο) had not been announced by 9 November, but what the law sets is enough to plan the holiday weeks now. This year Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Friday, 26 December on a Saturday and Epiphany on a Wednesday, so three weeks in a row have a public holiday.

At a glance

Open Sundays: 29 November, and 13, 20 and 27 December, optional, 11:00–20:00 (article 16 of Law 4177/2013).
Mandatory public holidays: 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January (article 203 of the Labour Code).
Premium: 75% on the legal daily or hourly wage (article 219).
Replacement rest: for more than 5 hours’ work on a Sunday, 24 hours on another working day (article 212); in shops, one day of rest in every case.
2026 festive hours: not yet announced; the local traders’ association announces them each year.

Which Sundays shops may open

Under article 16 of Law 4177/2013, shops may choose to open on the Sunday after the last Friday of November, the two Sundays before Christmas, and the last Sunday of the year. In 2026 those are 29 November, 13 and 20 December, and 27 December, from 11:00 to 20:00. Any other Sunday, such as 6 December, needs a specific provision, for example a mayor’s decision for particular areas.

Food service is a different case: under article 15A of the same law, food-service outlets of every kind, patisseries and dairy shops may open on any day and at any hour, as long as labour law is observed.

The 2026 festive opening hours

The law sets the frame: 06:00–21:00 from Monday to Saturday, plus the Sundays above. The hours for each day of the season are announced every year by the city’s traders’ association; in Thessaloniki, by the Thessaloniki Traders’ Association (Εμπορικός Σύλλογος Θεσσαλονίκης). The law sets no shorter hours for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve (both Thursdays this year); earlier closing comes with the association’s announcement, like the 10:00–18:00 the Thessaloniki association announced for both eves in 2024.

The holidays of the season

Article 203 of the Labour Code (Presidential Decree 62/2025) lists nine days of mandatory public holiday. Four fall in the festive season: Christmas Day, 26 December, New Year’s Day and Epiphany.

Under article 205, all commercial and, in general, professional activity is prohibited on Sundays and on these holidays, except what the Code exempts. Article 210 exempts, among others, restaurants, patisseries, bars and cafés, as well as selling bread and cooking food until 14:00 (more in the shift schedule for bakeries). Shops stay closed on all four days (article 15A of Law 4177/2013).

Employees paid by the day who don’t work on these holidays for reasons that aren’t their fault are paid that day’s wage, without the premium (article 219(3)).

The 75% premium

Under article 219 of the Code, anyone who works on a Sunday or on one of the nine holidays is entitled to a 75% premium, as set by decision 8900/1946, even if the agreement to work that day wasn’t valid. Under the interpretive decision 25825/1951, the premium is always calculated on the legal minimum daily wages and salaries (set by law or by the collective agreement), not on any higher pay; for a monthly salary, on 1/25 of the salary.

Payroll works out the amount. What it needs from the schedule is who worked which Sunday or holiday, and which hours: for example, 11:00–19:00 on Sunday 20 December, or 07:00–15:00 on Christmas Day in a café.

A working Sunday and the day off

Working on a Sunday doesn’t cancel the week’s rest; it moves it. Under article 212 of the Code, anyone who works more than 5 hours on a Sunday is entitled to 24 consecutive hours of replacement rest on another working day of the week that starts on that Sunday; for up to 5 hours, they may ask for rest of the same length. The employer sets the day and records it in the working-hours tables.

For shops on the open Sundays, article 16 of Law 4177/2013 and article 209 of the Code require one day of rest on another working day of the week that starts on that Sunday, with no minimum number of hours. On the 2026 calendar:

for Sunday 13 December, the day goes between Monday 14 and Saturday 19;
for 20 December, between Monday 21 and Thursday 24, the days before Christmas, because the 25th and 26th are holidays, not working days;
for 27 December, between Monday 28 December and Saturday 2 January, except New Year’s Day.

Weekly rest under article 173 still applies alongside: 24 hours, plus the 11 hours of daily rest. Where Sunday is a normal working day, as in food service, article 212 requires the replacement rest to fall on a Sunday, for at least eight hours, once in every 7 weeks, unless the schedule gives 7 Sundays of rest a year.

How to build the December weeks

Fix the constants now: which Sundays each store opens and which days it is closed. The festive hours will only change the times.
Share out Sundays and holidays. Keep track of who worked which, so that the 27th doesn’t fall again on those who worked the 13th and the 20th (fair shift distribution).
Put the day off in when you put the Sunday in. On a Monday-to-Sunday schedule, the Sunday closes one week and its day off belongs to the next.
Count rest from Sunday into Monday. Whoever closes at 20:00 on Sunday can’t open before 07:00 on Monday; in a café that closes at 23:00, not before 10:00 (11 hours’ rest).
Declare it beforehand. Sunday and holiday shifts are declared in ERGANI II like any other, and every change before its start time, unless a business with the digital work card has chosen the retrospective system (changes in ERGANI II).
Give payroll what the premium needs: every Sunday or holiday worked, with its hours, and every replacement day off, in the timesheet (ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ and ΩΡΟΜΕΤΡΗΣΗ).
Borrow staff for the peaks. Someone covering a Sunday at another store gets the premium too, and the replacement rest on the same terms (lending staff between stores).

How Postorunner does it

On every generation and every save, Postorunner checks 11 hours’ rest, including Sunday into Monday and around shifts at another store, and the limit on consecutive working days, counting the previous week. It puts no shifts on days the store is closed. Whatever can’t be covered legally stays an empty slot («ΚΕΝΗ ΘΕΣΗ»), to be filled from another store. Changes after validation are marked «ΑΛΛΑΓΗ», and the ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ and ΩΡΟΜΕΤΡΗΣΗ files come out in one click. Payroll calculates the premium; Postorunner does not connect to ERGANI today.

Frequently asked questions

Which Sundays in December 2026 can shops open?

13, 20 and 27 December, optionally, from 11:00 to 20:00, and before them 29 November.

Is 26 December a mandatory public holiday?

Yes, under article 203 of the Labour Code, as are Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany.

How is work on a Sunday or a public holiday paid?

With a 75% premium on the legal daily or hourly wage, and for a monthly salary on 1/25 of the legal salary. The collective agreement may set better terms.

Does someone who works on a Sunday get a day off?

If they work more than 5 hours, yes: 24 consecutive hours on another working day of the week that starts on that Sunday. In shops, in every case.

Sources

This article describes the general rules as they stand on 9 November 2026; it is not legal advice. The 2026 festive opening hours had not been announced by then, and collective agreements and special provisions allow exceptions, so for your own case, talk to your accountant or legal adviser.