Before ending an existing Greek employment arrangement, identify the legal employer and determine whether the change is only a service-platform change, a protected business transfer, or a new employment relationship. Those routes affect the employee's rights, required filings and whether work may continue on the planned date. A provider contract alone does not decide the route.
For a client moving existing Greek workers from EOR A to EOR B, classify the arrangement, confirm B and any permission, agree fresh terms if needed, and pass the readiness gate before exit. Defer if records or permission are not ready.
What changes when you switch EOR in Greece?
Identify the employer in the signed contract, payroll record and applicable permit. A platform change alone may leave employment intact.
If the employer changes, PD 178/2002 may transfer rights when an organized economic entity passes with its identity. Similar services alone are insufficient. Assess activity, assets, workforce, customers and interruption under Greek transfer guidance and PD 178/2002.
Temporary agency rules may also matter. A temporary employment agency employs workers for placement with an indirect employer under that user's supervision and direction. Greek Labour Code Article 118 limits a temporary-agency placement, including renewals, to 36 months; an overrun converts it to indefinite employment with the indirect employer. After placement and lawful renewals expire, continued work for that user without an interval of 23 calendar days, even through a new placement, is deemed indefinite employment with that user. A narrow short-event hotel/catering exception applies to this 23-day rule. Do not assume a provider reset. If B would make a placement, verify its lawful operation separately from entity registration. For a third-country worker whose permit depends on B, confirm any statutory TEA sponsor conditions before relying on B. Check the Greek Labour Code and full assignment history.
Without a transfer or other continuation basis, do not direct resignation before B's signed offer, effective permission and start arrangements. ERGANI II labels do not classify the legal event.
Review the existing service and employee position
Commercial notice does not replace employee rights or agreement to new terms.
Commercial agreement checklist
- Confirm notice method, receipt date, exit fees, deposit/refund terms and post-exit cooperation.
- Identify who supplies payroll, leave, benefit, filing and employment records, and when.
- Confirm funding owners for payroll, bonuses and tax or contribution payments. Do not offset an expected refund against B's funding.
Employee arrangement checklist
- Confirm legal employer, contract, collective terms, work location, role and any dispute or protected leave.
- Reconcile notice, service, probation, pay, leave, bonuses, severance exposure and benefit coverage.
- Check permit category, sponsor restrictions, notifications, approvals and effective dates.
- Obtain assignment starts, renewals and expiry dates from every agency if the same user continues.
- Explain statutory rights, settlements and any recognition B agrees to provide; name a question contact.
If a fresh contract is selected, the employee must agree to it. If transfer rules apply, providers cannot remove rights with a fresh-hire label. B should identify the employing entity and assign filing, payment, benefit and employee-support owners without promising eligibility before review.
Establish transfer and continuity treatment
Under PD 178/2002, rights and obligations pass to the successor; A and B share pre-transfer liabilities. Transfer alone cannot justify dismissal, subject to the workforce-change exception. Both employers inform representatives in good time; where measures are planned, consult early enough to seek agreement. If there are no representatives, provide required early written worker information. See Greek guidance and PD 178/2002.
For fresh employment, state any agreed service or probation recognition and settle accrued claims under applicable law. Have both payroll owners reconcile each worker's ledger before exit. For the wider obligations, see our Greece employment-law guide.
Private benefit continuity is not automatic. Verify the last coverage date under A and B's first covered date. For transfer, review obligations that pass; for fresh employment, record what B accepts. Contract terms cannot erase mandatory rights.
Set one coordinated cutover calendar
This hypothetical concerns a Greek citizen in an Athens office and assumes no applicable local or sector holiday. A owns the 1 to 30 November 2026 wage period; B owns 1 to 31 December. Assume A benefit coverage ends 30 November and B coverage starts 1 December, with written enrollment confirmation required before exit. Dates are scenario inputs, not statutory notice periods. Use the fresh-employment route only after confirming distinct employers, no qualifying transfer or other protected continuation, lawful end/start, and no unresolved TEA same-user expiry or 23-day consequence. Otherwise recalculate and defer exit.
ERGANI II has operated since 16 February 2026. File the ordinary fresh-start declaration before work. The current workflow requires a worker-signed/certified attachment or MyErgani acceptance after filing and before duties; confirm implementation with payroll. At the old employment end, the employer's ending declaration is due within four working days after departure, dismissal or expiry under Law 5239/2025, Article 14, which amended Labour Code Article 330(1). For a Monday 30 November 2026 end, that points to Friday 4 December assuming no applicable holiday. The filing deadline follows the lawful end; it does not create the right to end employment or replace required notice. The 2026 start declaration decision is the official Gazette source for the worker acceptance process.
For private enterprises, e-EFKA's calendar gives A's November 2026 APD window as 1 to 31 December, with contributions due 31 December. B's December 2026 APD window ends 1 February 2027; contributions are due 29 January. Public schedules differ. APD, contributions and withholding have separate deadlines.
Deliver terms 16 November 2026; close questions 19 November; confirm signed acceptance by the 20 November review. On 23 November A and B validate records and the client HR contact confirms pay periods, coverage and balances. A provides final payslip and settlement statement with 30 November final pay; B provides its first payslip with the assumed 31 December pay. Name A and B payroll contacts plus the client HR escalation contact. These internal dates do not waive rights.
Reconcile transition costs and cash
Keep a ledger separating service fees/refunds from wages, leave, bonuses and contributions. An expected refund is not payroll cash. Fees, deposits, overlap and severance depend on the case.
Greek Labour Inspectorate guidance says due annual leave pay and allowance are payable at termination when due leave has not been taken, subject to the worker's circumstances and applicable amendments. In the example, A's validated ledger shows four unused days and the worker's already validated gross daily remuneration is €100. The gross leave-pay component is 4 × €100 = €400. The leave allowance is separate, has its own calculation and cap, and is not included in €400. No withholding, net pay, other termination liability or monthly salary divisor is inferred. B does not pay the same four days again on this fresh-employment route unless the actual legal treatment or signed terms require recognition. Check the Labour Inspectorate leave guidance and actual payroll ledger.
Christmas bonus covers 1 May to 31 December. Article 149 sets 21 December payment, allowing the final-period portion to be retained until 31 December. This example assumes both employers pay their full liable shares on 21 December; B cannot defer the entire bonus to ordinary payday. Calculate shares under Ministry guidance.
Test the first payroll and close the old arrangement
Before live payroll, run a calculation-only comparison and assign an owner to every payment and filing. Keep YTD as history; B's live earnings begin on its start date. Each employer owns withholding, APD and contributions, including applicable bonus and leave-allowance contributions. File returns even when no tax is due and remit any withholding by the end of the second month after payment under AADE guidance. Rates and full hiring cost are outside this article.
Pass or fail before exit and first payroll
- Route and permission: Confirm employer identities, transfer/TEA classification, same-user history, permission and lawful dates. Otherwise defer.
- Terms: Signed B terms and required ERGANI acceptance precede work. A proposed offer is not acceptance.
- Wages and YTD: One payer per live day; validate identifiers, YTD, leave and final adjustments. YTD is history, not new pay.
- Benefits: Confirm last/first coverage dates, enrollment and employee contact.
- Filings: Assign each employer withholding, APD and contribution dates. APD filing and contributions have separate deadlines.
- Cash: B's approved funds clear before A's exit; assign final settlement and start/end filings.
- Missing records: Reconstruct only from lawful, independently verified records sufficient for payroll. Otherwise defer or extend where lawful.
Minimum records are signed employment/assignment terms; employer registration, employee AFM tax and AMKA insurance identifiers; service dates; validated pay/YTD; leave and bonus ledger; payslips and filing receipts; benefit dates; permit/employer terms when relevant; and escalation contacts. Agree data roles, purpose, lawful basis, retention, an approved encrypted channel, named recipients and receipt logging. Handle health data separately. GDPR requires accuracy, minimization and security. The Greek DPA says employee consent is generally unsuitable because of the power imbalance. See DPA guidance.
If A delays or refuses records, the client names an escalation owner and deadline. B and the client may validate lawful independent evidence such as signed terms, payslips and filed declarations. Do not invent balances or file unverified values. If records cannot support correct payroll, or the route is unclear, defer exit and B's start, or extend A only where lawful. No work may continue through a permission gap.
Two employee situations that change the switch
Hypothetical case 1: Greek citizen, conditional fresh employment. Assume distinct employers, no identity-retaining transfer or other protected continuation, and a valid agreed end/new contract. Review actual operation and the user's full assignment history to rule out or resolve any TEA Article 118 issue. Only on documented facts may A end 30 November 2026 and B start 1 December 2026. A settles its period; B starts its payroll and assesses its bonus liability. This is not a universal termination/rehire rule.
Hypothetical case 2: Blue Card holder in the first 12 months. Do not assume a same-day start. Migration Code Article 40 requires notification and suspends the change for 30 days while admission criteria are checked; the authority may oppose it if admission criteria are unmet. After 12 months, notification is nonsuspensive. Verify the card, start date, B's criteria and notification before work. See the Greek Code. Other permits have separate rules. For a covered initial employment-invitation single permit, the first-contract restriction is capped at six months. Early-change exceptions include serious employer breach, documented mutual ending or employer-initiated termination. For an eligible employer change with valid notification, the statute permits work during the 45-day review. Confirm the applicable exception if changing during the restricted period. Check the actual permit and Law 5275/2026 before setting a start date.
Questions about switching EOR in Greece
Does changing EOR providers transfer the employee? Not automatically. Confirm same employer, qualifying identity-retaining transfer, or valid fresh-employment route. Similar services alone are insufficient.
Can a new agency restart the 36-month limit? Do not assume so. For TEA placement with the same indirect employer, review all renewals and expiry. Article 118 also covers continued work after expiry without a 23-day interval, even through a new placement.
Can work continue while a permit change is pending? It depends on permit and timing. A Blue Card change in its first 12 months is suspended for 30 days; an initial single permit has separate restrictions. Confirm effective permission before B's start.
Who pays accrued leave and Christmas bonus? It depends on route and balances. A settles due old amounts under fresh employment; each employer pays any bonus portion for which it is liable. Transfer may carry rights. Reconcile before payment.
What if payroll records are incomplete? Name an escalation owner and request verified records. Reconstruct lawfully only if sufficient for correct pay and filings; otherwise defer or extend where lawful.
Borderless AI's EOR services cover employment contracts, payroll and benefits. To discuss a Greece switch, request an arrangement assessment and confirm the employing entity and case eligibility before setting a transition date.
Rules checked 22 October 2026.
