The leadership of the Ministry of Labor is developing plans to expand the digital work card to businesses employing more than 5 workers by the end of the year, according to a report by “Apogeymatini”. The decision comes after record overtime hours were recorded in the seven-month period of 2025, exceeding 1.5 million hours compared to the corresponding period of 2024.
Dramatic increase in overtime in sectors with work cards
According to data from ERGANI, recorded overtime hours in sectors that have been integrated into the digital work card system show an 80% increase in the seven-month period of 2025. For July specifically, the increase in overtime reaches 76% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
The tourism sector recorded the highest increase in overtime with a rate of 728% on a seven-month basis and 541% on a monthly basis. The hospitality sector follows with an increase of 301% and 154% respectively, while retail shows an increase of 105% on a seven-month and 89% on a monthly basis.
New sectors targeted for mandatory integration
Despite the results, Labor Minister Niki Kerameos is proceeding with plans to integrate new sectors into the digital work card system. Businesses in energy, wholesale trade, financial services and travel agencies are expected to be integrated into the system.
This expansion will cover an additional 380,000 workers, while the new sectors are extensions of others already operating with the digital time recording system.
Violations and fines from inspections
In June, 184 violations related to the digital work card were identified, corresponding to 22.57% of the total 817 labor relations violations. The imposed fines amounted to 736,800 euros.
The increase is mainly attributed to the recent integration of tourism and hospitality into the system, which reveals with greater accuracy the actual working hours of employees.
In total, 6,899 inspections were carried out in businesses in June, with 3,541 focusing exclusively on labor relations. Violations reached 1,214, while total fines amounted to 3,639,587 euros.
Problematic situation in the first half of 2025
From January to June 2025, AADE conducted 38,093 inspections, recording 8,000 violations and imposing fines totaling 21,942,961 euros. Violations for the digital work card amounted to 1,079, with corresponding fines of 3,868,800 euros.
Significant violation categories include:
• Undeclared work: 102 violations with fines exceeding 1.3 million euros
• Staff roster: 119 violations with fines of 190,100 euros
• Non-payment of wages: 115 violations with fines of 342,640 euros
For health and safety at work issues, inspections reached 13,984, with 1,943 violations and fines of 2,275,369 euros.
