Unpaid leave for raising a child: Teachers’ vindication in the Court of Appeals – New Circular expected

“The mandatory duration of the unpaid leave granted until the end of the school year is not clear,” according to a response from the Ministry of Education to a Question in Parliament on the issue of unpaid leave for raising a child for teachers.

The question referred to the Ministry of Education’s practice of considering that unpaid leave for teachers to raise a child should expire on August 31st of each year, at a time when all public servants are granted it for any period of time they need, without a specific expiration date, as provided for in article 56 of Law No. 4830/2021.

What does the Ministry say now?

In the response document, the Ministry of National Defense, after 4 years from the enactment of Law 4830/2021 with article 56, admits, following decisions of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal, which ruled in favor of the appealing teachers, that the current provisions cannot be interpreted in such a way that the mandatory limit of the duration of unpaid parental leave coincides with the end of the school year.

What did the Administrative Court of Appeal decide?

Specifically, according to the response of the Minister of National Defense, the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that the current provisions cannot be interpreted in such a way that the mandatory limit of the duration of unpaid parental leave coincides with the end of the school year.

Consequently, the Court annulled a decision of the Directorate of Primary Education , by which the applicant teacher had been granted unpaid child-rearing leave from 11/9/2023 until the end of the school year (31/8/2024), as the duration of the leave exceeded the requested time.

The Court referred the case to the Administration for a new, legal judgment.

In addition, the no. was issued. 174/2025 Decision of the same Court, which, in essence, reaches the same conclusion as no. 886/2024 Decision, reiterating the interpretation of the current provisions regarding the duration of unpaid parental leave.

Both decisions of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal lead to the exact same conclusion, that from the special provision of article 16, ca. E of the law. 1566/1985 does not establish the mandatory duration of the granted unpaid leave, until the end of the school year.

The conditions for granting unpaid leave for raising a child

From the above decisions of the Courts, it can be concluded that the only conditions for granting unpaid leave due to raising a child/children to parent-teachers are the following:

1. The child’s age must not exceed eight (8) years.

2. The submission of the application by the interested teacher-parent must be made by May 31st of each year, in order to ensure the smooth operation of the school units, and must relate to a period of time within the following school year.

3. The minimum duration of the permit granted shall be at least one (1) month.

4. The total duration of the license granted shall not exceed five (5) years. Furthermore, it is noted that according to article 53 par. 1 of the Civil Service Code, the periods of unpaid leave for raising a child for which remuneration is paid (2 months for up to 2 children or 3 months for 3 and more children), as well as the 4 months per child that are considered as time of actual public service, are included in the total period of unpaid leave (5 years).

Furthermore, it is clear – based on the current regulatory provisions – that the responsibility for granting unpaid leave due to raising a child belongs to the teacher’s relevant Director of Education. A clarifying Circular is expected. Finally, the Ministry of National Defense Service has hierarchically submitted, for signature, a draft Circular, in accordance with the above understandings.

Source – Alfavita