The digital work card and shift schedules

The digital work card (ψηφιακή κάρτα εργασίας) records in ERGANI II, as it happens, when each employee starts and finishes work. Every punch is compared with the hours declared for that person in the Digital Organisation of Working Time. That is why, in a business on the card, the shift schedule is no internal note: it is what every arrival and departure will be compared with.

At a glance

Hours are declared in ERGANI II before they apply, for example weekly or monthly.
The card is punched at the start and end of the declared hours; a punch before the declared start is a mismatch.
Preparation time is up to 10 minutes before and 10 after a shift, and up to 30 in industry (Law 5239/2025).
With a written agreement, flexible arrival of up to 120 minutes after the declared start.
A card not activated for an employee means a €10,500 fine per employee.

Which businesses have the digital work card

Inclusion is decided by the business’s main activity code (ΚΑΔ) in TAXIS. If the main code belongs to a sector that has joined, the card applies to every employee; if not, to none, even if a branch has a code that has joined.

The sectors, in the order they joined:

2022–2023: banks, supermarkets, security companies, private insurance.
2024: industry and retail (mandatory from 1.7.2024).
2025: tourism (accommodation) and food service (mandatory from 1.3.2025).
12.10.2026: health (except doctors), employment services, telecommunications, hairdressers and beauty centres, dry cleaners, building cleaning.
16.11.2026: consulting, advertising and office activities, repairs, warehousing and logistics, water supply and sewerage, gambling.

A bakery whose main code is bread-making (10.71) is manufacturing, so it falls under industry; with a retail main code, under retail. The sector also sets the preparation time, so it is worth confirming with your accountant.

Even in a sector that has joined, some people don’t punch a card, among them managers, teleworkers on their telework days, and people with no fixed workplace, such as field sales staff.

What has to match the schedule

Start and end times

The card is punched at the start of the declared hours, once the employee is ready, and at the end, before they get ready to leave. A punch before the declared start, work without a punch, or work after the declared end are all mismatches, unless the hours were changed beforehand.

In practice, the shift in the schedule and the shift in the declaration must be the same shift, at the same time. A 06:30–14:30 shift that “starts a little earlier” in the store is a mismatch every day.

Preparation time

Since Law 5239/2025, the time from arriving at the workplace to starting work (and the reverse at the end) is at most 10 minutes, and 30 minutes in businesses whose main code is industry. If an employee is found working during that time, penalties apply.

Flexible arrival

A business with an active card can agree in writing with an employee on flexible arrival of up to 120 minutes. Work then starts at any point from the declared start to the end of that window, never earlier. The agreement is declared in ERGANI for each employee.

Single punches

A single punch is a day with an arrival and no departure, or the reverse. Up to 3 a month per employee are met with a recommendation. More, when not justified, are grounds for an inspection.

Changes and overtime

Every change of hours and every hour of overtime is recorded in ERGANI II: in advance, or afterwards if the business has chosen the retrospective system. When and how is in the article on changing a shift in ERGANI II.

The fines

€10,500 per employee without an activated card at an on-site inspection. If the violation is found in three inspections within 12 months, the business may be closed for 15 days.
Fines per employee for mismatches too: a punch that doesn’t match the real start or end, or a change of hours that wasn’t recorded.

A check for whoever makes the schedule

The week was declared in ERGANI II before it started, with the same hours as the store’s schedule.
Every change after the schedule was sent reached payroll before its start time, or is recorded retrospectively.
Whoever works at a second store has that shift in the other store’s schedule too. Ask your accountant how they declare it.
No shift informally “starts earlier”.

Where Postorunner helps

Postorunner does not connect to ERGANI or to the digital work card today. What it does is make the schedule that will be declared correct before it is declared, and keep visible whatever changes afterwards:

The week is built with 11 hours’ rest, the limit on consecutive days and each employee’s contract checked, across all stores together.
After validation, every new or changed shift is marked as a change, and written in red in the ΩΡΟΜΕΤΡΗΣΗ timesheet. So payroll sees which changes it has to record.
A shift at another store is marked as a loan at the store it covers, and in the home store’s timesheet it shows the other store’s name and the hours.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employee clock in before their start time?

No. A punch before the declared start is a mismatch, even with flexible arrival, unless the hours were changed in ERGANI II beforehand.

How long is the preparation time?

Up to 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after a shift, and up to 30 in businesses whose main activity code is industry. The employee must not be working during that time.

Does the digital work card apply to bakeries?

It depends on the main activity code. With bread-making (10.71) as the main code, the business falls under industry, where the card has been mandatory since 1 July 2024; with a retail main code, under retail, from the same date.

Sources

This article describes the general rules as they stand on 2 November 2026; it is not legal advice. Exact fines and deadlines are set by ministerial decisions, so for your own case, talk to your accountant or legal adviser.