Global HR Compliance in Greece

Employing staff in Greece requires compliance with the country’s employment contract rules, mandatory salary payments, social insurance system and digital labour reporting requirements. Employers must register employment through ERGANI II, observe the 40-hour working week and account for Christmas and Easter bonuses alongside ordinary salary. Greek law also restricts fixed-term contracting, regulates overtime and protects employees against unlawful dismissal.

The legal framework changed materially in 2025 and 2026. Law 5239/2025 revised working-time and reporting provisions, ERGANI II became fully operational on 16 February 2026, and the statutory minimum monthly salary rose to €920 on 1 April 2026. These changes affect both companies operating Greek subsidiaries and international businesses seeking to employ staff in Greece through an Employer of Record.

Greek Employment Law: Principal Requirements for Employers

Private-sector employment in Greece is governed by the Greek Civil Code, the codified individual labour legislation in Presidential Decree 62/2025 and specific statutes covering working time, employee information, leave, equal treatment and termination. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security oversees labour policy, the Hellenic Labour Inspectorate enforces employment standards, and e-EFKA administers compulsory social insurance.

Employment Contracts and Mandatory Terms in Greece

Greece recognises indefinite-term and fixed-term employment contracts. An employment relationship can arise even without a signed document, but employers must provide the legally required information on employment conditions within the prescribed deadlines. Failing to document terms does not remove the employee’s statutory rights.

Employment information should accurately identify the parties and work location, the role and start date, contract duration where relevant, remuneration and payment frequency, ordinary hours, applicable leave, termination rules and any collective agreement governing the job. A cross-border offer letter that simply refers to the law of the employer’s home country cannot displace mandatory Greek employment protections.

Indefinite-term contracts and probation

An indefinite-term contract has no predetermined end date. Under the framework introduced by Law 5053/2023, an agreed probationary period generally cannot exceed six months. For fixed-term work, probation must be proportionate to the contract and, where the relevant provisions apply, cannot exceed one quarter of the agreed duration, with a maximum of six months. Probation does not suspend wages, social insurance, working-time restrictions or discrimination protections.

Fixed-term employment and successive contracts

A fixed-term agreement normally ends on its specified date or when the agreed task finishes. Employers cannot repeatedly renew fixed-term contracts simply to cover permanent staffing needs. Greek rules on successive contracts require objective justification and provide safeguards against abusive renewals; courts may treat an apparently temporary relationship as indefinite where the facts and statutory conditions warrant it.

Remote and hybrid working

Law 4808/2021 regulates telework, including arrangements relating to equipment and costs, information security and the right to disconnect. Employers must record the relevant working arrangements and comply with occupational health, privacy and working-time requirements even when staff work from home. A Greek-based remote employee does not become an independent contractor merely because the company has no local office. Our article on permanent establishment in the remote-work era addresses a separate corporate tax issue arising from cross-border roles.

ERGANI II, Digital Work Cards and Employment Records

ERGANI II replaced the former employment information system on 16 February 2026. Employers use it to report and maintain employment information, contractual changes and relevant workforce events. Law 5239/2025 simplified several filing processes while strengthening the digital record of working arrangements.

Greece’s Digital Work Card system records actual working time in sectors within its scope. Covered employers must ensure that recorded hours match reality and apply the relevant advance or retrospective overtime declaration regime. An internal spreadsheet cannot substitute for the statutory records where digital reporting is compulsory.

Companies should reconcile employment contracts, ERGANI II declarations, digital attendance data and payroll. Differences between a stated eight-hour schedule and routinely longer recorded working days can trigger unpaid overtime claims and enforcement action.

Minimum Wage, Pay and Statutory Bonuses in Greece

From 1 April 2026, Greece’s statutory minimum salary is €920 gross per month for full-time salaried employees and the minimum daily wage is €41.09 for workers paid under the statutory daily-wage category. Applicable collective agreements and seniority increments can require higher remuneration.

Under Law 5053/2023, qualifying seniority accrued before 14 February 2012 and from 1 January 2024 counts towards statutory minimum-wage increments. For salaried employees, each qualifying three-year period can add 10%, up to 30% after three periods. Employers must assess the individual’s eligible history rather than assuming every new hire starts at the statutory base.

Christmas, Easter and annual leave allowances

Greek private-sector employees ordinarily receive a Christmas bonus equal to up to one monthly salary and an Easter bonus equal to up to half a monthly salary, with proportionate calculations for shorter qualifying periods. They also receive an annual leave allowance, generally capped at half a monthly salary for monthly-paid employees. These are legal entitlements, not discretionary rewards.

That makes the commonly cited 14-payment annual remuneration model important in employment budgeting: 12 regular monthly salaries plus the Christmas bonus, Easter bonus and leave allowance. The exact amounts depend on eligible service and remuneration. For a fuller explanation of remuneration and benefits, see payroll and employee benefits in Greece.

Social Security and Payroll Compliance in Greece

Employers must register eligible employees for compulsory insurance, deduct employee contributions, pay employer contributions and submit the required periodic insurance declarations to e-EFKA. The standard contribution split for a typical private-sector employee is 21.79% for the employer and 13.37% for the employee, or 35.16% combined; individual coverage packages may differ.

From 1 January 2026, the maximum monthly insurable earnings base is €7,761.94. Christmas and Easter bonuses and the leave allowance are generally subject to applicable insurance contributions. Specific treatment applies to certain overtime and premium payments following Laws 5184/2025 and 5239/2025.

Payroll must also account for employee income-tax withholding. Employers should calculate Greek payroll using current tax bands and the employee’s applicable circumstances rather than reusing old tables, particularly because changes to tax treatment took effect in 2026. A foreign payroll provider alone does not settle who carries the underlying Greek employment and reporting obligations.

Working Hours, Overtime and Rest Periods in Greece

The ordinary full-time working week is 40 hours. Greece distinguishes additional work within statutory thresholds from overtime, with different premiums and reporting requirements. Under Article 7 of Law 5239/2025, ordinary authorised overtime is generally capped at four hours per day and 150 hours per year, with a 40% pay premium. Overtime beyond those limits needs the legally required approval and carries a 60% premium when authorised; unlawful overtime can attract a 120% premium and employer sanctions.

The 2025 reforms also permit, subject to safeguards, working arrangements extending up to 13 hours in a day for the same employer. This is not a new standard workday or unrestricted entitlement to demand 13-hour shifts. Rest requirements, weekly-hour limits, reporting rules and protections against forced overtime still apply.

For applicable arrangements, employers must respect at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and the statutory weekly rest provisions. Employees may be entitled to additional premiums and substitute rest for Sunday, public holiday or night work, depending on the circumstances.

Four-day weeks and working-time flexibility

Greek legislation permits certain written working-time arrangements, including a four-day 40-hour week with ten-hour working days, subject to the applicable conditions. Employers cannot treat flexible scheduling as permission to ignore overtime, rest or digital reporting obligations. Dismissing an employee for refusing a qualifying working-time arrangement is prohibited.

Annual Leave and Statutory Employee Benefits in Greece

Paid annual leave accrues from the start of employment. For a five-day working week, the initial statutory calculation is based on 20 days per 12 months, rising to 21 and then 22 days with qualifying service. Longer-service employees receive more: 25 days after ten years with the same employer or 12 years of total qualifying service, and 26 days after 25 years of employment history.

Under Law 4808/2021, employers must generally grant the relevant annual leave by 31 March of the following calendar year. The outdated proposition that all untaken leave must invariably disappear or be paid on 31 December does not reflect the current statutory framework. Unlawful failure to grant leave can result in increased payment liability.

Sickness absence

Greek Civil Code provisions govern continued wage payment during qualifying sickness absence. Depending on service, employer pay obligations may extend to half a month or one month, with relevant e-EFKA sickness benefits taken into account. Employers should check entitlement, required evidence and coordination with insurance payments rather than treat sickness as unpaid leave by default.

Maternity, paternity and parental rights

Statutory maternity leave is 17 weeks, normally eight weeks before and nine weeks after birth. Eligible mothers may also receive a nine-month special maternity protection benefit administered through DYPA, subject to its statutory conditions. Fathers have 14 working days of paid paternity leave. Law 4808/2021 provides a framework for parental leave and flexible working requests, including protections against adverse treatment for exercising family-related rights.

Greek law also protects pregnant employees against dismissal during pregnancy and for a protected post-birth period, subject to narrow statutory exceptions. Any dismissal involving maternity or parental leave needs examination against both the termination rules and the specific anti-discrimination protections.

Equality, Harassment and Workplace Safety

Employers must comply with Greek anti-discrimination law, including Law 4443/2016, and the workplace violence and harassment provisions of Law 4808/2021. Depending on headcount and statutory scope, employers must adopt specific policies and procedures covering harassment complaints, reporting and investigation.

Occupational health and safety duties apply to Greek employees regardless of the parent company’s location. Employers must assess workplace risks, meet applicable health-and-safety staffing requirements and protect employees working remotely where relevant. For sensitive recruitment screening, employers must also comply with the GDPR and Greek data protection law, including Law 4624/2019. Background checks are not automatically lawful merely because they are standard practice at the company’s overseas headquarters.

Termination, Notice Periods and Severance Pay in Greece

Employers must distinguish termination of indefinite-term employment from early termination of fixed-term contracts. Dismissals of indefinite-term employees require the applicable formalities, and statutory severance generally becomes relevant once the employee has completed 12 months’ service. The employer’s ability to terminate without notice does not necessarily eliminate severance after that threshold.

Notice for indefinite-term employees

Where the employer gives valid statutory notice, the severance amount is generally half of the amount payable on dismissal without notice. Where no statutory notice is given, the ordinary severance scale starts at two monthly salaries after one full year of service and rises with service, generally reaching 12 monthly salaries after 16 years, subject to statutory calculation rules and exceptional historical entitlements.

Fixed-term contracts normally expire at the agreed end date. Early termination usually requires a legally sufficient serious reason unless a valid contractual and statutory basis applies. Dismissals involving discrimination, protected family status, trade union activity or retaliation can be unlawful regardless of the employer’s willingness to pay compensation. See also our guide to notice periods and employer obligations.

Collective Bargaining Agreements in Greece

Greece has an established system of collective bargaining governed primarily by Law 1876/1990, as amended by Law 5278/2026. Sectoral, occupational and enterprise-level agreements can establish binding employment conditions, including minimum remuneration, seniority allowances, working arrangements and supplementary benefits.

Collective agreements are particularly significant in hospitality, tourism, banking, insurance and food production. For example, the national hotel sector agreement provides salary increases of 5% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, while the banking agreement establishes scheduled increases through 2027.

The February 2026 reforms expanded the potential reach of collective agreements by reducing the threshold for extending sectoral agreements to 40% of the workforce in the relevant sector. Certain agreements can also become generally binding without meeting that threshold.

Employers must establish whether a collective agreement applies before setting salaries or finalising employment contracts. Compliance with Greece’s statutory minimum wage alone may not satisfy the requirements of an applicable sectoral agreement. More favourable terms in individual employment contracts remain enforceable.

The Greek Ministry of Labour maintains an official register of collective employment agreements covering sectoral, occupational and enterprise-level agreements.

Our article on collective bargaining agreements in global employment examines how these agreements affect employers operating across different jurisdictions.

Independent Contractors and Misclassification in Greece

Greek law distinguishes independent professional services from dependent employment through the actual degree of control and personal dependence. Under Article 1 of Law 3846/2010, personally provided services rendered exclusively or predominantly to the same client for nine consecutive months can trigger a rebuttable presumption of dependent employment.

Invoices or self-employment registration do not defeat that presumption on their own. Businesses using long-term consultants as permanent team members may incur wage, leave, insurance and dismissal liabilities if a court determines that the relationship was employment. The distinction is discussed in our contractor vs employee in Greece guide and our wider analysis of employee misclassification risk.

Employing Foreign Nationals in Greece

EU and EEA citizens generally benefit from free-movement employment rights, subject to registration and residence formalities where applicable. Non-EU nationals usually need the relevant residence and work authorisation before starting work, and permits may depend on the role, employer and immigration category.

A company’s ability to hire an individual and the individual’s right to work are separate legal questions. Employment terms, sponsoring arrangements and the immigration pathway must align. Our Greece work permit guide examines the country-specific immigration considerations.

HR Compliance in Greece Without a Local Entity

International companies may need an employee in Greece before they have enough local activity to justify incorporating a Greek subsidiary. The employment model must still support Greek contracts, payroll, social insurance, ERGANI II reporting, leave and lawful termination.

Where the role is genuine dependent employment, Acumen International can provide a local employing arrangement through its Global Employer of Record service. The client directs the employee’s commercial responsibilities while the local employer handles the statutory employment obligations within the agreed arrangement. This does not automatically eliminate all operational, regulatory or tax risks for the client, including any permanent establishment considerations.

Frequently Asked Questions About HR Compliance in Greece

What is the minimum wage in Greece in 2026?

The statutory minimum monthly gross salary for a full-time salaried employee is €920 from 1 April 2026. Applicable seniority increments and collective agreements can require higher pay.

Is a written employment contract mandatory in Greece?

Employment can legally exist without a signed contract, but employers must communicate the legally required employment terms within the prescribed deadlines. Written documentation also helps demonstrate compliance with pay, working time and other mandatory rules.

What is ERGANI II?

ERGANI II is Greece’s upgraded digital employment information system, fully operational since 16 February 2026. Employers use it for relevant employment reporting and digital workforce records.

Can a Greek employee work 13 hours in one day?

Only under the statutory conditions for extended working time and overtime. The standard working week remains 40 hours, and employers must respect daily and weekly rest, annual overtime limits, required reporting and employee protections.

How many annual leave days must an employer grant in Greece?

The initial statutory calculation is based on 20 working days annually for a five-day schedule, pro-rated from the start of employment. Entitlement increases with service and can reach 25 or 26 days for longer-service employees.

Can a foreign company employ staff in Greece without establishing a subsidiary?

Yes, a company can consider an appropriate Employer of Record arrangement. The parties must ensure that Greek employment, reporting, payroll, social insurance and immigration rules are met.

Managing Greek Employment Compliance with Acumen International

Greek employment compliance depends on the detail: the agreed working schedule must match digital records, payroll must reflect statutory bonuses and insurance rules, leave must be granted within legal deadlines, and dismissals must follow the correct protections and compensation calculations. The country’s 2025–2026 reforms make outdated employment templates particularly risky.

Acumen International helps enterprises employ and manage talent in Greece and across more than 190 countries, with local employment expertise, payroll administration, statutory benefits and support for immigration requirements. Our approach helps companies maintain compliant employment arrangements as their international workforce changes.