The European Commission referred Greece to the EU's top court on July 8, 2026, over employment rules that treat fixed-term teachers in public schools less favorably than their permanently employed counterparts.
The Commission, announcing its decision from Brussels, said Greek national legislation has not been fully aligned with Council Directive 1999/70/EC, the EU rule that governs fixed-term work arrangements. That directive bars member states from applying less favorable conditions to fixed-term workers compared with permanent staff doing equivalent work.
The case centers on teachers hired under fixed-term contracts in Greek public schools. The Commission determined that Greece's laws, as they stand, fall short of what the directive requires on equal treatment for those workers.
The Court of Justice of the European Union will hear the case. Greece now faces formal judicial proceedings at the EU level over its failure to bring domestic employment law into full conformity with the 1999 directive's protections for fixed-term employees.