Nine-month paid child-rearing leave or reduced working hours for public-sector employees
Public-sector employees who are parents of a child up to 4 are entitled to reduced working hours or, instead, a continuous 9-month paid child-rearing leave. The 9-month leave requires an application to the personnel department.
Reduced hours to raise a child up to 4 or, instead, a continuous 9-month paid leave; for a 4th child or later, reduced hours extended by 2 more years; adoptive and foster parents: the same facilities right after the three-month adoption/foster-care leave, until the child turns 8
Who can get it
Official evidence · Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020: «… αφορά τις άδειες και τις διευκολύνσεις των μονίμων υπαλλήλων και των υπαλλήλων με σχέση ΙΔΑΧ …» (ν. 3528/2007 άρθρο 53: διευκόλυνση του υπηρετούντος υπαλλήλου) · Checked: 2026-10-12
Official evidence · Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020, Κεφάλαιο Α΄: άδειες και διευκολύνσεις μονίμων υπαλλήλων και υπαλλήλων με σχέση ΙΔΑΧ (ν. 3528/2007, άρθρο 53) · Checked: 2026-09-28
Official evidence · ν. 3528/2007 (Κώδικας Κατάστασης Δημοσίων Πολιτικών Διοικητικών Υπαλλήλων)· Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020, Κεφάλαιο Α΄ · Checked: 2026-09-28
Official evidence · Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020: «η παρούσα εγκύκλιος χωρίζεται σε δύο κεφάλαια το πρώτο εκ των οποίων αφορά τις άδειες και τις διευκολύνσεις των μονίμων υπαλλήλων και των υπαλλήλων με σχέση ΙΔΑΧ που ρυθμίζονται με το άρθρο 47 του ν. 4674/2020 και το δεύτερο μία επισκόπηση των αδειών που κατά βάση κάνουν χρήση και δικαιούνται οι υπάλληλοι του Δημοσίου με σχέση ΙΔΟΧ» · Checked: 2026-09-30
Official evidence · ν. 5043/2023 άρθρο 29 (άρθρο 53 παρ. 2 ΥΚ): «Ο χρόνος εργασίας του υπάλληλου που είναι γονέας μειώνεται κατά δύο (2) ώρες ημερησίως, εφόσον έχει τέκνα ηλικίας έως δύο (2) ετών, και κατά μία (1) ώρα, εφόσον έχει τέκνα ηλικίας από δύο (2) έως τεσσάρων (4) ετών» · «Ο χρόνος εργασίας γονέα υπαλλήλου μειώνεται κατά μία (1) ώρα ημερησίως για δύο (2) επιπλέον χρόνια, μετά από την απόκτηση τέταρτου τέκνου» · «Ο θετός και ανάδοχος γονέας δικαιούται τις διευκολύνσεις … αμέσως μετά τη χορήγηση της άδειας της παρ. 9 και σε κάθε περίπτωση έως τη συμπλήρωση των οκτώ (8) ετών του τέκνου.» · Checked: 2026-10-12
Official evidence · Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020, ενότητα 7Α · Checked: 2026-09-28
Official evidence · Εγκύκλιος ΥΠΕΣ ΔΙΔΑΔ/Φ.69/117/οικ.11102/28-5-2020, ενότητα 8 «Δήλωση χρήσης διευκολύνσεων για ανατροφή τέκνου» · Checked: 2026-09-28
Based on official sources. For the latest criteria, contact the relevant authority.
How to apply
The steps to apply yourself. Free: you don’t need to pay anyone.
Required Documents
Usually the details gov.gr already holds about you are enough.
Step by step
- 1
Reduced hours
Granted without an application. If both parents are employees, file a joint declaration on who will use it.
- 2
Continuous 9-month leave
Apply to your employer's personnel department, so that the reduced hours do not start automatically.
Authority: Υπ. Εσωτερικών
Good to know
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What it is
The Civil Service Code (Law 3528/2007, article 53 para. 2) gives permanent civil servants and staff on open-ended private-law contracts (IDAX) of the State, public-law entities and local authorities a facility for raising a child up to 4: reduced working hours (2 hours less a day for a child up to 2 and 1 hour for a child from 2 to 4) or, instead, a continuous 9-month paid leave.
- Reduced hours are granted without an application. An application is needed only to declare which of the two parents will use them. - If you want the continuous 9-month leave, apply to the personnel department, so that the reduced hours do not start automatically. - If both parents are employees, a joint declaration sets who uses the facility or in which periods each of you does; the periods follow one another, they do not overlap. - Adoptive and foster parents get the same facilities right after the three-month adoption/foster-care leave (article 53 para. 9) and in any case until the child turns 8. If they choose reduced hours, these are 2 hours a day for the first 2 years after the adoption or placement and 1 hour for the next 2 years. - If you are an unmarried, widowed or divorced parent or have a disability of 67% or more, the 1-hour reduction is extended by 6 months or the 9-month leave by 1 month. - If you have twins, triplets or more children from one birth, you get an extra 6 months of paid child-rearing leave for each child beyond the first. - With the birth of a 4th child and each later one, the reduced hours are extended by 2 more years, whichever facility you chose before.
The Civil Service Code does not cover the Armed Forces and the Security Corps, which have their own rules. Private-sector employees have other leaves (e.g. DYPA's parental leave allowance).
Lifecycle*
ActivePermanent/ongoing benefit
No fixed end date is currently recorded.
*Cycles, deadlines, and availability may change regularly. Always confirm with the official source before applying.
Benefit details
- Provider
- Υπ. Εσωτερικών
- Category
- Family & Children
- Status
- Active
- Type of benefit
- Information
Details last verified: 12/10/2026