30 August 2025

Public sector employees who refuse to undergo performance evaluation for two consecutive years will face dismissal, according to the new disciplinary law reform passed by Parliament.

The new legal framework broadens the range of disciplinary offenses and penalties, with the most significant provision being the possibility of permanent dismissal in cases of repeated refusal to participate in the evaluation process.

Key changes include the abolition of collective disciplinary bodies and their replacement with a new body responsible for examining disciplinary violations. Unlike the previous system, representatives of employees will no longer participate in these bodies.

Refusal by an employee to take part in the evaluation process—either as evaluator or as evaluated—in target setting and performance measurement will now be considered a disciplinary offense. It will initially be punished with a fine equal to two months’ salary, while permanent dismissal will be imposed if the refusal persists for two consecutive years.

In addition, any employee prosecuted for a felony will automatically be placed on suspension. Until now, this provision applied only to crimes relating to sexual freedom and economic exploitation of sexual life. Likewise, loss of personal liberty (imprisonment) will also automatically trigger suspension for the duration of the sentence.

Those dismissed from the public sector through permanent disciplinary dismissal or contract termination due to their own fault will only be eligible for reappointment after 10 years (currently 5 years).

Furthermore, the temporary ban on reappointment will also apply to employees who lost their civil servant status (e.g., by resignation) but were subsequently and irrevocably imposed with the disciplinary penalty of permanent dismissal, due to continuation of disciplinary proceedings after their resignation.

New disciplinary penalties are also introduced for certain offenses: denial of eligibility for salary grade advancement for 1 to 5 years, removal of up to four salary grades, and prohibition from holding managerial positions (even in acting capacity) for 1 to 5 years.

Beyond disciplinary sanctions, certain violations will also incur additional administrative fines ranging from €3,000 to €100,000.

For the first time, the concept of “disciplinary settlement” is introduced, allowing the accused employee to request a more lenient penalty under certain conditions. This is applicable in cases where permanent dismissal is not foreseen and where no financial damage has been caused, or any damage has been fully restored by the employee.

The provisions of the new disciplinary code, introduced by Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios, apply to civil servants, employees of municipalities and regions, as well as employees of public law entities (NPDD), and will come into force from the beginning of next year.

For disciplinary cases concerning offenses committed up to December 31, 2025, where proceedings are initiated after January 1, 2026, the new provisions will apply.

The new disciplinary body

From the new year, the Public Sector Human Resources Disciplinary Council will take over, replacing the existing first-instance and second-instance disciplinary councils.

The new body will be staffed exclusively by 60 full-time judges, members of the State Legal Council, recruited specifically for this purpose, as Deputy Interior Minister Vivi Charalabogianni told Parliament.

The Council will operate in three-member or five-member panels depending on the seriousness of the case, with no participation from employee representatives or public sector officials. The only involvement of a union representative will be if the accused employee wishes them to appear before the hearing to present views, after which they must leave before deliberations begin.

According to the explanatory memorandum of the bill, the reform seeks to address chronic delays in disciplinary proceedings in the public sector. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 2,300 cases were still pending in around 100 first-instance disciplinary councils. In many instances, proceedings can last up to—or even exceed—five years.

The main reason for such delays lies in the structure of the existing councils, which are presided over by judges or prosecutors for whom participation in disciplinary bodies is not a primary duty but a parallel responsibility.

The collective disciplinary councils will be abolished by early 2027, with a deadline of December 2026 to conclude all cases pending as of December 31, 2025.