Employing someone in Greece means administering several separate obligations: declaring the start before work begins, paying wages and mandatory supplements, reporting and paying payroll liabilities, and following the correct process when employment changes or ends.
Three distinctions deserve particular attention. A later insurance-return deadline does not permit an undeclared start. An annual salary agreement must account for statutory holiday payments and leave allowance. And ordinary notice and severance do not resolve every fixed-term or protected dismissal.
Rules checked 16 October 2026. This guide concerns ordinary private-sector employment, with conditional rules identified below.
Which employment rules apply to your hire?
Start with the actual work, employing organisation and worker category. Greece's Labour Code provides the national framework, but collective agreements, special legislation and more favourable contractual terms can change the answer. Check the applicable agreement and any extension decision before setting pay or leave.
Collective terms do not simply disappear on expiry. Law 5278/2026 restored continuation of all normative terms after the three-month extension, until replacement through a new collective or individual agreement. Do not reduce an existing employee's package using an older, narrower aftereffect rule.
Employer obligations at a glance
The payroll timetable is national. The OECD’s 2026 chapter reports no local income taxes. Establish any separate employer-levy applicability by work location; national registrations alone do not answer that different question.
Contracts and the start of employment
Use a written agreement that identifies duties, workplace, pay components, hours, applicable agreement and the chosen contract type. Provide a version the employee understands; a bilingual agreement is a practical way to align local administration with an international employer's review.
The written-information rules distinguish core particulars due within one week from the remaining information due within one month. Notify relevant changes no later than their effective date. These disclosure windows do not postpone hiring declarations.
An agreed probation period for indefinite employment is capped at six months. For fixed terms, it must also be proportionate and cannot exceed one quarter of the term; same-job renewal cannot impose fresh probation. Protective rules continue during probation. These limits follow Law 5053/2023.
Complete the start declaration before actual work
ERGANI II replaced ERGANI I on 16 February 2026. Submit the digital start declaration before duties begin, using the prescribed signed-document or MyErgani acceptance process. The implementing decision provides for employee acceptance before taking up duties and an automatic announcement outcome after inaction. Its document-formality cure does not excuse having no declaration while someone works; undeclared-work sanctions can apply.
Check the employer's e-EFKA registration and AME number. Automatic registration applies to qualifying Greek company-formation procedures; confirm completion rather than assuming initial data transmission is enough. Obtain AADE access and verify employee AFM tax and AMKA insurance identifiers. A foreign employer without a Greek establishment needs its registration and withholding position established specifically; a foreign payroll account or absence of a permanent establishment is insufficient grounds to skip Greek obligations.
Set intellectual-property rights explicitly. Greek copyright law ordinarily transfers only the employee-work economic rights necessary for the employment purpose. Employment-created or instructed software has a different employer-ownership default. Broader transfers/licences require writing; identify pre-existing material and, under an EOR, the onward rights chain to the client.
Pay, working time and employment records
The full-time statutory floor from 1 April 2026 is €920 monthly for salaried employees or €41.09 daily for manual workers. Apply proportional part-time treatment, recognised service increments and any higher binding terms.
Wages are ordinarily due at the end of their calculation interval, unless another lawful arrangement sets the timing. Pay into the worker's payment account, identifying the reason and period. Issue an itemised earnings-and-deductions statement at settlement under Code article 154.
The ordinary week is 40 hours: eight daily over five days or six hours 40 minutes over six. Provide 11 consecutive hours' daily rest, weekly rest of 24 hours in addition to daily rest, and a 15 to 30 minute break when work exceeds four consecutive hours. Average weekly working time including overtime generally cannot exceed 48 hours over four months. Special working-time regimes need their own assessment.
Ordinarily, hours 41 to 45 on a five-day week, or 41 to 48 on a six-day week, are overwork paid at a 20% premium. Overtime beyond the applicable daily or weekly limits is a separate category. Current Ministry guidance incorporates the four-hour daily and 150-hour annual ordinary lawful-overtime limits, normally with a 40% premium. Rest and average-hours limits still apply. Overtime is normally reported before it begins; eligible Digital Work Card employers choosing retrospective reporting instead report by the following calendar-month end. Check coverage and retain accurate schedules and actual-time records.
Follow the money beyond the payroll return
For an employer liable for Greek salary withholding, calculate employee deductions using current tax-year inputs, including relevant age and dependent-child information. AADE requires the monthly salary return even when no tax is due. Both the return and remittance ordinarily fall due by the end of the second month after payment. Retain the submission protocol and separate proof of tax settlement.
Social insurance follows the employment month. Submit e-EFKA APD records under the published calendar and pay both employee deductions and employer contributions separately by the next month's last working day. Select the worker's correct coverage package; one headline contribution rate cannot settle every case. For TEKA-covered workers, submit a distinct TEKA APD, ordinarily during the following calendar month for private businesses, and pay TEKA separately by that month’s last working day. Check fund-specific extensions and use TEKA’s own payment identity. An extended filing window does not itself extend payment.
For example, e-EFKA's published September 2026 employment schedule allows APD filing from 1 October through 2 November. September contributions are nevertheless due on Friday, 30 October, the next month's last working day. A payroll team filing on 2 November must already have made the contribution payment.
For workers whose insurance package includes former OEE coverage, the €20 annual camp levy is an employer-only contribution. In 2026 it was collected with August contributions; e-EFKA generates its separate APD centrally, but the employer still pays.
Deliver annual earnings/withholding certificates to employees in paper or electronic form by the applicable year’s deadline. The annual-file decision ties delivery to annual-file timing: for tax year 2025, 27 February 2026. Detailed monthly salary reporters are exempt from that separate electronic file, while employee delivery remains required. Apply the 2026 tax-year decision when issued; the earlier date cannot set its deadline.
For routine employee data, explain purposes and recipients, restrict access and retain information only as justified. Payroll's legal-obligation basis differs from optional monitoring. Data-authority guidance cautions against relying on employee consent where the employment imbalance prevents a free choice. Health information needs its additional lawful basis and safeguards.
Leave, benefits and ongoing employer duties
Budget and schedule the statutory supplements
Private-sector employees earn mandatory Christmas and Easter payments. Full-period entitlement is one monthly salary at Christmas and half a salary at Easter, or 25 and 15 daily wages respectively. Shorter qualifying periods attract proportional amounts. Under Code article 149, the ordinary payment dates are 21 December and Holy Wednesday; the permitted remaining-period holdback cannot run beyond 31 December or 30 April respectively.
Annual leave also carries normal pay and an allowance capped at half a monthly salary or 13 daily wages. Pay both at the start of leave. These are statutory duties to administer alongside ordinary salary, even when the offer is expressed as an annual figure.
The Ministry leave guidance explains family eligibility and funding; its sickness guidance distinguishes the employment-year wage limit from insurance benefits. Employer maternity wage preservation uses the same service-based half-month/one-month limits, shared with other qualifying absences in the employment year and subject to benefit offsets.
For parental leave, the employee ordinarily applies one month ahead. Respond within one month; serious operational disruption needs written reasons for postponement, and absent another agreement leave must be granted within two months of the application. Special maternity protection ordinarily requires one month's advance employer notification. Preserve return to the same or equivalent job and accrued rights. Childcare working-time reductions are a separate paid entitlement, ordinarily one hour daily for 30 months, with agreed alternatives.
Record annual leave retrospectively in ERGANI II within the following calendar month under Law 5239/2025; the older one-hour-after-start rule is superseded.
Arrange risk assessment, safety training and qualified safety support. An occupational doctor is generally required at 50 workers, and for specified hazardous exposures below that threshold. Delegation does not remove employer safety responsibility.
Prevent discrimination and harassment, provide reasonable disability/chronic-illness adjustments, and investigate complaints. Above 20 workers, adopt the unified prevention and internal-complaints policy required by the amended rules. Employees can elect works councils at 50 workers, or 20 where no union exists; respect elections and the council's statutory information/consultation rights under Code articles 425 to 438.
Before specified pay-transparency provisions commence on 1 November 2026, prepare objective, gender-neutral pay structures and recruitment/pay-information processes. The October circular distinguishes commencement from later, headcount-dependent reporting dates. Existing equality duties already apply; 1 November is not a universal pay-gap report deadline.
Changing terms and ending employment
A harmful unilateral change can attract dismissal consequences. Obtain lawful agreement where required before cutting pay or materially changing terms; ERGANI entry does not supply consent. For telework, give the additional terms within eight days of its start, specify employer-covered costs and respect disconnection outside working hours. Ministry guidance also prohibits webcam monitoring of performance.
During the first 12 months of indefinite employment, Code article 336 ordinarily permits termination without statutory notice or severance unless otherwise agreed. This is distinct from six-month probation; protected-dismissal rules still apply.
The Ministry's termination guidance explains notice, severance and the fixed-term serious-cause distinction. Notice runs from the day after notification. Statutory instalments can apply where severance exceeds two months' pay; qualifying service already accrued on 12 November 2012 can preserve additional severance rights.
Pregnancy and normally 18 months after birth are protected, as is a father's six-month period after birth. Serious cause is a narrow exception, with written reasons and Inspectorate notification; pregnancy-related illness can extend protection. Paying severance does not cure a prohibited dismissal. Invalid dismissal can expose the employer to reinstatement/back-pay or the applicable statutory remedy.
For collective redundancies, undertakings above 20 workers screen calendar-month nonpersonal dismissals against six employees for the 20 to 150 bracket, or 5% capped at 30 above 150; exceeding the threshold triggers the procedure. Consultation runs 30 days from the employer’s invitation. File minutes and required information with the Supreme Labour Council (ASE). Agreed dismissals take effect ten days after filing. Without agreement, ASE has ten days for compliance review; a compliant decision triggers a 20-day wait, with a 60-day outside branch from notification of the minutes. Statutory exclusions, including genuine fixed-term expiry and court-ordered closure rules, require separate treatment.
Earned wages become due when the contract ends. Settle applicable unused-leave pay/allowance and proportional holiday payments as well as severance. Supply a work certificate on request. Report the ending separately in ERGANI II within four working days of the relevant departure, dismissal or fixed-term expiry under Code article 330, as amended.
Three situations that change the employer's action
A first employee starts on 19 October 2026. Illustratively, an employer proposes waiting for November's insurance filing. Instead, confirm employer registration and submit the ERGANI II start declaration before actual work on 19 October. October insurance reporting and payment follow their separate calendars. Combining the before-work rule with the later APD cycle changes the start decision.
An annual offer lists only twelve salary payments. For an employee entitled to the full qualifying periods, schedule Christmas and Easter payments and the leave allowance, and specify how the annual offer accommodates them. A higher-looking annual figure does not remove the mandatory entitlements. Pay leave wages/allowance at leave commencement, rather than treating all supplements as a December payment.
A fixed-term employee has three months left when sales fall. Assess serious cause or a lawful consensual arrangement before ending the contract. Offering ordinary indefinite-employment severance does not automatically settle the unexpired term: the Ministry confirms that disappointing business performance alone is not serious cause. Protection checks and ending reports remain separate.
Managing these obligations through an EOR
An EOR arrangement can administer employment agreements, payroll, taxes and benefits within its verified scope. Confirm the Greek employer, operating basis, covered role and division of work before relying on it.
Where the arrangement constitutes temporary labour supply, the supplier must satisfy Greece's EPA operating requirements. The supplier must meet guarantee requirements and cannot start during the three months following its complete notification file, or if the authority prohibits operation. A deficient file does not start that clock.
Code articles 117 to 126 limit assignments including written renewals to 36 months; exceeding that limit creates indefinite employment with the client. Separately, continued work after assignment/renewal expiry without a 23-calendar-day interval can create that relationship, subject to the narrow short-event hotel/catering exception. A 23-day gap is not blanket permission to evade the maximum.
Placement can also be barred after same-specialty economic dismissals in the preceding three months or collective dismissals in six months, and by strike-replacement, sector and hazardous-work restrictions. The client retains workplace-safety/accident duties and qualified wage/contribution exposure. Obtain a responsibility schedule covering supervision, time records, leave, workplace risks and exit decisions. Immigration permission remains a separate check.
Questions employers ask about employment law in Greece
Can we use our home-country contract?
Use it only after adapting mandatory Greek terms, disclosure and registration requirements. Identify the governing collective agreement and lawful local pay package before signing.
Is probation automatically twelve months?
No. Agreed probation is capped at six months, with an additional one-quarter-of-term cap for fixed contracts. Protective rules continue during probation.
Does filing APD mean contributions have been paid?
No. Keep accepted declarations and actual payment/ledger confirmation separately. A filing extension can leave payment due earlier.
Are the holiday payments optional bonuses?
No. Christmas and Easter payments and annual-leave allowance are statutory entitlements, with qualifying-period and calculation rules. For budgeting beyond these obligations, see our Greece hiring-cost guide.
Can severance make any termination lawful?
No. Fixed-term serious cause, protected status, discriminatory or retaliatory grounds and collective procedures require separate decisions before payment.
Borderless AI's EOR service includes employment-contract and payroll administration. Ask us to assess your Greece arrangement and confirm the employer, role eligibility and responsibility allocation in writing.
