Workplace Investigations

Internal labour regulations may allow for the suspension of an employee when there is reasonable suspicion that a disciplinary offence has been committed. Given that under Greek law employees have the right to receive wages and to be employed, suspension without a specific provision in the internal labour regulation may only be imposed in an extreme case where the offence and the risk of keeping the employee employed during an investigation is obvious.

Payment of remuneration during suspension should not be withheld, otherwise, the suspension could be considered a disciplinary penalty not provided in law and imposed without completion of the disciplinary procedure, thus illegally harming the employee.

In any case, suspension is one of the ultimate measures that may be taken, in contrast to, for example, a change of work position.

After the employee is notified of the accusation, the employer may decide on a preventive suspension of the employee if the employee’s presence on company premises is deemed problematic. In this case, the employee’s salary will continue to be paid.

As per article 330(5) of the Portuguese Labour Code, a preventive suspension may also be determined during the 30 days before the accusation is made, provided that the employer, in writing, justifies why is necessary (eg, for interfering with the inquiry) and why the accusation cannot be served at that moment.

It is possible to suspend an employee during a workplace investigation.[1] While there are no limits on duration, the employee will remain entitled to full pay during this time.

Incidents of violence and harassment may be dealt with by certain independent authorities, such as the Labour Inspectorate Body and the Greek Ombudsman. The former is competent to impose sanctions on the employer if there is a breach of the general prohibition of violence and harassment at the workplace and the obligation of employers regarding the prevention of such incidents and the obligation to adopt policies within the business. The Greek Ombudsman is competent to deal with disputes when there is violence or harassment in the workplace coupled with discrimination due to, for example, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or gender identity. Moreover, the applicable legal framework[13] stipulates that victims of violence and harassment are entitled to lodge a report before the Labour Inspectorate Body and the Greek Ombudsman. This is in addition to the judicial protection he or she may seek and the internal investigation procedure to which he or she may have recourse, without specifying whether internal proceedings may be suspended before the regulatory bodies decide on the matter.

On the other hand, the National Transparency Authority and in certain cases the Hellenic Competition Commission are external reporting channels for employees reporting breaches of Union law. In such cases, L.4990/2022 (article 11 paragraph 5) stipulates that the investigation before the National Transparency Authority is not suspended if reporting procedures before other regulatory authorities have been initiated.

Moreover, criminal investigations can run in parallel with internal probes.

These procedures are independent and autonomous, and the law does not provide any particular rules to ensure coordination. This raises particular concerns when an employee is subject to a criminal investigation in secret, as the employer will be unable to access any evidence from the criminal procedure to begin an internal investigation or disciplinary procedure against the employee.

On the other hand, considering the short statutes of limitation to enforce disciplinary action, it may prove impossible to wait for the outcome of the criminal or regulatory investigation to decide if a disciplinary procedure should also be enforced, because by the time the employer is fully aware of the facts, the statutes of limitation may have already expired.

However, both the judge in a criminal procedure and the regulator have the public authority to order the employer to share any findings within the scope of the investigation or disciplinary procedure.

The actions of the employer may carry through to a subsequent state proceeding. First and foremost, any prohibitions on the use of evidence must be considered. Whereas in civil proceedings the interest in establishing the truth must merely prevail for exploitation (article 152 paragraph 2, Swiss Civil Procedure Code), in criminal proceedings, depending on the nature of the unlawful act, there is a risk that the evidence may not be used (see question 27 and article 140 et seq, Swiss Civil Procedure Code).