How to Hire Employees in Greece Without a Local Entity

Yes, a foreign company may employ in Greece without incorporating, but the route depends on the employer, worker and job. Direct employment is supported for a defined EU cross-border telework case. A qualifying Greek temporary employment agency (EPA) can employ a worker for a compliant temporary assignment. Both routes retain Greek employment and payroll duties.

Can you hire an employee in Greece without incorporating?

e-EFKA describes an EU-established employer with a full-time employee teleworking only from Greece under an indefinite contract. Greek social insurance applies; the agreement records schedule and remote/on-site proportion. Confirm current e-EFKA census and AADE steps for that employer. The guidance does not establish the route for non-EU employers. Read e-EFKA’s guidance.

Entity formation, employer registration, tax registration and permanent establishment are different questions. e-EFKA describes an employer-registration route for the specific EU telework case, but it does not settle tax presence or payroll access for every company. Confirm steps with AADE and e-EFKA for the employer’s country and legal form.

An EPA employs a worker for temporary placement under a client’s direction. Greek law regulates agency entry, guarantees, contracts, equal treatment and duration. A payroll service does not establish EPA status.

Choose a permitted employment route

The Greek Labour Code makes the EPA the employer during a temporary placement. Before assignment, it must sign a written employment contract with the worker and a separate written client agreement. The notification regime requires a complete file and two bank guarantees; activity may begin after three months from complete filing unless prohibited. Check its current status. See the Labour Code provisions.

The EPA and client are jointly and severally liable for wages and contributions. The client’s joint liability can be suspended when the written agreement assigns payment to the EPA and worker claims can be met from the required guarantees. The client then retains subsidiary liability; its exposure is not extinguished. The EPA remains responsible for payment, and the client retains workplace safety and health duties. See the Labour Code.

A placement, including renewals, cannot exceed 36 months; exceeding that limit converts employment to an indefinite client contract. Separately, after the initial placement and lawful renewals expire, continued client use, including through a new placement, without a 23-calendar-day interval creates an indefinite client contract. A narrow exception covers short social events in hotel and catering businesses. Plan the assignment’s lawful end or transition before expiry. Payroll processing alone is not employment; contractor status does not fit an intended employee relationship. See the Labour Code.

Confirm the person, job and work location are eligible

Before making an unconditional offer, confirm these facts with the actual employer:

• Work permission: Greek and EU/EEA/Swiss citizens have employment access; EU citizens staying over three months have residence formalities. For a third-country worker, check permit category, employer and occupation conditions. A qualifying EPA can invite from abroad only under 2026 conditions, including €1 million capital; the application names the client, includes its contract and financial-capacity evidence, meets a six-month contract minimum and fits admission availability. EPA status alone is not sponsorship. Ministry guidance and EU residence formalities.
• Client and activity: Check strike replacement, same-specialty economic or technical dismissals in the prior three months, and same-specialty collective dismissals in the prior six months. Also check restrictions for specified public employers, designated high-risk work and covered construction categories. Article 117 sets the restrictions.
• Temporary purpose and comparator: Record the project end condition and compare pay, hours, leave, breaks, overtime and holidays with a direct hire in the same position.
• Actual worksite and supervision: State worksite, manager, schedule, equipment and safety arrangements; agree remote-work terms and expenses.
• Employer identity and paperwork: Match the employer across agreement, accepted filing, payroll and payslip. Obtain both EPA contracts before assignment.

If work permission, client staffing facts, the role or agency status does not clear, resolve that issue before work begins. A visa or vendor marketing page is not proof.

Prepare the offer and country employment terms

Agree the terms with the actual employer before signature. This example discloses pay and applicable collective terms before signing.

The relevant hiring and pay-transparency provisions of Law 5316/2026 take effect November 1, 2026. Employers must disclose initial pay or range and applicable collective terms a reasonable time before interview, or before signature if there is no interview; salary-history questions are prohibited. Covered employers need equal-pay structures from November 1. The October 29 signature predates commencement. This example discloses pay and collective terms before signing and prepares the equal-pay structure for November 1. For any interview or contract step on or after November 1, follow the new rules. If recruitment began earlier and continues after that date, confirm how the timing applies. See the Ministry circular.

Complete the hire from agreement to first payroll

In this 2026 example, a Greek citizen already in Greece is authorized for a full-time, non-regulated remote software project from an Athens home. Assume 40 hours Monday to Friday, no overtime, a private client with no relevant staffing restriction, and accepted comparator terms. These assumptions need verification for a real hire.

Greek Agency A is fictional; assume it is lawfully operating and maintains required guarantees. Its worker contract may be indefinite while the temporary assignment ends April 30, 2027, roughly six months after November 2. This is not a permanent single-client route.

1. Tuesday, October 27: choose route and terms. Confirm employer, project, site, schedule, eligibility, comparator, collective terms and digital-card applicability. Disclose pay before signature; do not ask salary history. Wednesday, October 28 is Ochi Day, so no gate is planned then. Unclear agency or client eligibility pauses the offer.
2. Thursday, October 29: sign and collect data. The worker and agency sign the employment contract; agency and client sign the assignment agreement. Verify identity, applicable tax/insurance data, address and bank details. The client supplies role, hazards, supervision and site facts.
3. Friday, October 30: clear assumed commercial funding. The client pays under its agreement and retains proof. This example condition is not a statutory or universal provider deadline. If it fails, resolve it or defer the start.
4. By Friday, October 30 and before any work: Greek Agency A files the commencement notice. The employer submits ERGANI II and retains acceptance evidence. If rejected or incomplete, move the start until accepted.
5. Before Monday, November 2: deliver written employment information. Greek Agency A gives core and telework terms with dated proof. Ministry guidance sets an outer limit of one week from work commencement for core information and eight days from telework commencement for remote particulars. This example delivers both before work; the EPA’s written contract must already be signed before assignment.
6. Monday, November 2: start after legal gates clear. The client directs daily work and reports hours, leave, overtime, safety issues and changes. The agency handles filings and payroll. Confirm Digital Work Card coverage using the actual sector, establishment, work pattern and applicable agency/client rules.
7. Monday, November 30: pay the first salary as agreed. The hypothetical contract expressly agrees to €2,500 gross pay for November despite the November 2 start. This is a commercial contract assumption, not a statutory proration rule. Greek Agency A calculates net pay from actual data, pays the worker’s own bank account with period and reason identified, and gives an itemized payslip. No net amount is assumed.
8. After payroll: complete the applicable filings. For Greek Agency A, a common private employer, the November 2026 APD window is December 1 to 31. APD filing and contribution payment are separate; confirm the contribution date for the actual insurance category. The agency also withholds employee tax from gross pay, files the AADE withholding return and remits any tax due by the end of the second month after payment. A return is required even if no tax is payable. Foreign-employer access to this process requires separate confirmation for a direct-hire case. Keep APD, contribution and AADE evidence. Ministry guidance covers APD and contributions on bonuses and leave; AADE states the withholding deadline.

If a legal, permission or filing gate fails, work waits; if assumed funding fails, resolve it or defer activation. Once earned, wages remain due despite a funding dispute. Under these assumptions, work starts November 2 and salary is paid November 30.

Budget and prepare the first payment

Request a written quote and separate the employee’s gross pay from the employer’s added costs:

• Gross salary: In the example, the contract sets €2,500 gross for November. Employee income-tax and social-insurance deductions come out of that gross amount. They are not additional employer wage cost.
• Other statutory pay: For a November 2 start, reserve the prorated Christmas bonus for service from November 2 to December 31, not a full month’s bonus. It is generally payable by December 21; a permitted amount for December 21 to 31 service may be paid by December 31. In this example, plan to pay the calculated prorated amount by December 21. Budget Easter-bonus entitlement too. Accrue leave allowance separately; pay leave pay and the allowance at the start of annual leave. Contributions apply to bonuses and leave. Bonus deadline and leave-pay rules.
• Employer contributions: Add the employer’s social-insurance liability using the confirmed insurance category and current calculation. Do not rely on a generic rate without those inputs.
• Service and conditional charges: Add the actual provider fee and any quoted onboarding, benefits, equipment, FX, payment, leave or termination charges. These are commercial terms, not Greek statutory rates.
• Funding schedule: Confirm amount, cutoff and late-funding terms. A commercial cutoff does not change the duty to pay wages earned.

Ask for an itemized estimate separating gross salary, deductions within gross, employer contributions, statutory accruals, service fee and conditional charges. The Greece hiring-cost guide covers the broader cost model; this example is not a total quote.

What your company still manages after the hire

Even with an EPA, your company should:

• Give the agency accurate role, site, schedule, qualifications, hazards and comparator facts, and report changes before they take effect.
• Maintain safe working conditions and confirm Digital Work Card coverage for the actual sector, worksite and agency/client arrangement. Remote work alone does not settle coverage.
• Assess whether wider Greek activity creates tax or permanent-establishment questions; employment routing does not decide them.
• Keep contracts, accepted filing, payslip and invoice consistent. Share employee data with the legal employer through approved systems and restrict access to people handling the hire and payroll.

See the Greece employment-law guide for a wider overview.

Questions about hiring without an entity in Greece

Can my foreign company hire directly without a Greek subsidiary?

e-EFKA supports an EU employer’s full-time, indefinite telework case from Greece. Confirm employer-specific registration and tax access before relying on direct employment.

Is an EOR or payroll provider automatically an EPA?

No. Verify its notification file, guarantees and both written contracts. Payroll processing alone does not employ the worker.

Can an EPA assignment be indefinite?

The EPA worker contract can be indefinite, but client placement is temporary and subject to duration and conversion rules. Permanent work needs another route or planned transition.

What must be ready before the employee starts?

Confirm job permission, employer, route, written terms, worksite and accepted ERGANI II notice. Both EPA contracts must precede assignment. If a gate fails, defer work.

What happens if funding is late after work begins?

The employer still owes wages earned. A client invoice dispute does not extend the wage deadline.

Borderless lists Employer of Record among services on its Greece country page. For a case-specific next step, request a Greece hiring assessment and ask it to confirm the proposed legal employer, route, eligibility, required documents and written commercial schedule.