The European Commission is sending Greece to the EU Court because temporary teachers receive worse conditions than permanent ones.

The European Commission is sending Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for the working conditions applied to teachers employed on fixed-term contracts in public schools. Brussels says that Greek legislation is not fully aligned with the Directive on fixed-term work and allows less favorable treatment for temporary teachers compared to permanent teachers.

In short

The European Commission is sending Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for the discrimination of fixed-term teachers in public schools.

Brussels says that Greek legislation offers these teachers worse conditions than permanent teachers, including maternity leave and sick leave.

The infringement procedure began in July 2024, and the Commission sent Greece a reasoned opinion in May 2025.

The EU Directive on fixed-term work prohibits less favorable treatment of temporary workers unless it is objectively justified.

The case concerns teachers employed in Greek public schools on fixed-term contracts. They can cover significant needs of the education system, including in schools where permanent staff is insufficient, but the European Commission believes that national legislation treats them worse than permanent teachers in certain essential aspects of the employment relationship.

The Commission explicitly mentions maternity leave and sick leave. Differences in these areas directly affect the social protection of teachers, not just their administrative status. For a temporarily employed teacher, weaker rights to sick leave can mean insecurity in case of illness, and weaker conditions regarding maternity can affect the protection of workers at a time when European social legislation demands fair treatment.

Directive 1999/70/EC on fixed-term work establishes a common framework at the European level to prevent the abusive use of successive temporary contracts and to ensure equal treatment between fixed-term and permanent workers. The central principle is simple: a temporary worker cannot be treated less favorably just because they have a fixed-term contract, unless there is an objective justification.

The Commission launched the infringement procedure in July 2024, through a letter of formal notice sent to Greece. After the response from the Greek authorities, Brussels considered that the explanations provided for the differences in treatment were unsatisfactory. In May 2025, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion, the stage through which it officially requests the member state to correct its legislation or practice.

The decision to refer to the Court of Justice comes after the Commission concluded that Greece's explanations did not alleviate concerns regarding the compatibility of national legislation with EU law. If the court finds a violation of the directive, Greece will have to amend its rules so that fixed-term teachers are no longer disadvantaged compared to permanent teachers, if the difference cannot be objectively justified.

The case has broader implications beyond the education system in Greece. In many member states, schools, hospitals, and public administrations use temporary contracts to cover staff shortages, variations in needs, or recruitment bottlenecks. EU law does not prohibit fixed-term contracts, but it requires that they do not become a way for workers doing similar work to be deprived of basic social rights.

For teachers, the difference between a temporary contract and a permanent contract can mean more than job stability. It can affect leave, protection in case of illness, maternity, income continuity, and the ability to plan personal life. In education, these conditions can also influence the attractiveness of the profession, at a time when many European school systems are facing recruitment and retention difficulties.

The case also highlights the role of the European Commission in enforcing EU social law. The infringement procedure does not immediately establish the guilt of a member state, but allows the Commission to ask the Court to verify whether national legislation complies with European obligations. At this stage, Greece is being sent to court after nearly two years of administrative and legal dialogue with Brussels.

For the European Union, the principle is that flexibility in the labor market should not create categories of employees with inferior rights when they perform comparable work. Temporary teachers may be necessary for the functioning of public schools, but their contractual status cannot automatically justify worse conditions regarding social protection and workplace rights.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/stiri/comisia-europeana-trimite-grecia-la-curtea-ue-pentru-ca-profesorii-temporari-primesc-conditii-mai-slabe-decat-cei-permanenti