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GREECE
Greece is located in southeastern Europe at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean Seas. Its neighboring countries are Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania and Turkey.
POPULATION
10,3 inhabitants
CURRENCY
Euro (EUR)
GDP
$280–290 billion
MINIMUM MONTHLY WAGE:
920 €
TIME ZONE
UTC +2
Greece is one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations, with its many islands and rich history attracting thousands of visitors each year. The Greek government recently approved a law to create a more lenient employment environment that supports flexible work hours, loosens overtime rules, and allows remote workers to disconnect.
Therefore, if you’re looking to hire employees in Greece, offering options that help them reconcile their work and personal lives will make your business a competitive employer — helping you attract and retain top Greek talent.
✓ Full-time employment contract of indefinite duration
✓ Fixed-term employment contracts.
Legal weekly working hours in Greece are set at 40 hours for a 5-day working week. Daily working hours are typically 8 hours, with flexibility depending on the work schedule.
Employees are entitled to a break of at least 15 and up to 30 minutes when daily working time exceeds 4 hours.
Minimum daily rest of employees cannot be less than 11 hours. A minimum continuous rest period of 24 hours, typically including Sunday, is required every week. In the case of a 5-day working week, employees are entitled to 2 days ofweekly rest.
The standard working week in Greece is 40 hours.
Work performed beyond 40 hours per week and up to 45 hours in a 5-day work schedule is considered additional work (“overwork”) and is typically compensated with a 20% premium.
Work exceeding 45 hours per week is classified as overtime and must be compensated with a premium of at least 40% above the employee’s regular hourly wage.
The maximum permitted overtime is generally 150 hours per year. Under recent labor law reforms, up to 4 hours of overtime per day may be allowed under specific conditions.
In all cases, the average weekly working time, including overtime, must not exceed 48 hours over a reference period of four months.
Overtime must be properly declared in the ERGANI system. Undeclared overtime may be considered illegal and is subject to significantly higher compensation rates.
Normal annual leave: From when they start work in a business and until they have completed 12 months of continuous employment, employees are entitled to a percentage of the normal annual paid leave which is proportional to the time they have spent in the business. The percentage is calculated on the basis of annual leave of 24 working days or, if the business operates a 5-day working week system, of 20 working days without including in thecalculation those days of the week on which the person does not work because of the system applied. The employer is obliged to grant the above-mentioned proportion of annual leave by the end of the calendar year in which theemployee was recruited.
In the second calendar year, employees are entitled to normal annual paid leave in proportion to the length of their employment in the business. The leave is increased by one working day for each year of employment in addition to the first year, up to 26 working days, or up to 22 working days if the business operates a 5-day week. Exceptionally, leave may be divided into two periods during the calendar year if there is a particularly serious or urgent need on thepart of the business or holding.
In each following calendar year, employees are entitled to receive their normal annual paid leave from 1 January ofeach year, as well as their leave allowance (an additional half salary for private sector employees).
Regular leave is granted until the first 3 months of the following year, otherwise the employer is obliged to pay the employee leave wages: normal wages when there is no fault or negligence on the part of the employee, and double, inother words with a 100% surcharge, when there is negligence or fault on the part of the employer.
Convalescence leave (after sickness)
The duration of this leave depends on the employee’s length of service within the business:
Half a year’s leave is granted for various illnesses if the employee worked for 4 months during the previous year, a year’s leave is granted for the same illness if the employee worked for 12 months during the two previous years and 2 years’ leave is granted for the same illness if the employee worked 60 months during the previous years.
Education and study leave is granted to persons who are due to sit examinations, provided that they have completed1 year of employment.
Maternity and confinement leave: Under the national collective labor agreement, a female employee is entitled to seventeen (17) weeks paid maternity leave: eight (8) weeks before the birth and nine (9) weeks after the birth. If the woman does not use up all her leave entitlement for the period before the birth, she can use the remainder after thebirth.
Special maternity protection leave: Under certain conditions, following the postpartum period leave and theequivalent leave time in terms of reduced hours of work, working mothers are entitled to apply for 6-month maternity-protection leave, which is provided for by the DYPA.
Paternity leave: Greek labor regulation provides 14 days of leave for the father following the birth of a child.
Parental leave: every working parent has the right to parental leave for the upbringing of their child, with a duration of 4 months, which they can use continuously or in parcels until the child reaches the age of 8. For the first 2 months,the DYPA pays a parental leave allowance to each parent, on a monthly basis, in an amount equal to the legal minimum, as well as the corresponding holiday bonuses and leave allowance.
Child-care leave: parents are entitled, alternately between themselves, to child-care leave. This leave is granted for a period of 30 months from the end of maternity leave or special maternity protection or parental leave, as reduced hours. During the above time, the parent is entitled to either arrive at work 1 hour later or leave work 1 hour earlier each day, or suspend work 1 hour per day, in accordance with their request.
Caregiver leave: each employee is entitled to caregiver leave of up to 5 working days for each calendar year to carefor a person, provided this person is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.
There are also other leaves or facilitations for parents and caregivers (absence due to force majeure, submission of anapplication for flexible regulation of work, permission to attend parent‐teacher meetings, as well as leave due to illness or hospitalization of a child).
Additionally, there are provisions for assisted reproduction and prenatal screening leave.
1 January — New Year’s Day
6 January — Epiphany
2 March — Clean Monday
25 March — Greek Independence Day
17 April — Orthodox Good Friday
19 April — Orthodox Easter Sunday
20 April — Orthodox Easter Monday
1 May — Labour Day
8 June — Orthodox Whit Monday (Holy Spirit Day)
15 August — Assumption Day
28 October — Ochi Day
25 December — Christmas Day
26 December — Synaxis of the Mother of God
Employees who provide a valid medical certificate are entitled to paid sick leave depending on their length of service.
For the first three days of sick leave, employees are generally entitled to 50% of their regular wages paid by the employer. From the 4th day of illness, employees may receive sickness benefits from e-EFKA in accordance with applicable social insurance regulations.
• Employees with 1–4 years of service are generally entitled to up to 1 month of paid sick leave
• Employees with 4–10 years of service are generally entitled to up to 3 months of paid sick leave
• Employees with 10–15 years of service are generally entitled to up to 4 months of paid sick leave
• Employees with more than 15 years of service are generally entitled to up to 6 months of paid sick leave
These refer to mandatory benefits as prescribed by law and include annual leave, maternity leave, paternity andparental leave, sick leave, severance pay, notice period, public holidays, 13th and 14th month.
Moreover, statutory benefits also include social security benefits.
Social security benefits cover pensions, medical expenses, long term disability payments etc.
The most common benefits for employees are:
• dental care
• health care insurance
• child homecare allowance
• family allowance
• travel allowance
• meal allowance
The termination process varies according to the employment agreement and collective agreement in place and based on the type of contract and reason for termination. To terminate an employee on an indefinite contract, anemployer must provide a written notice of termination, and the employee must have been registered with the Unified Social Security Fund (EFKA).
Termination of a fixed-term contract
An employer may terminate a fixed-term employment contract before it expires only for ‘compelling reasons’, suchas inadequate performance of duties in the workplace, professional inadequacy, bankruptcy or restriction of the activities of the business, worker absenteeism, etc.
If the notice of termination of the contract is for ‘compelling reasons’, the employer is not obliged to pay compensation. However, the concept of ‘compelling reasons’ is a legal one, and consequently it has to be scrutinized by the courts If the ‘compelling reasons’ were not genuine, the notice of termination of the contract is invalid and allcompensation must be paid.
Termination of an employment contract of indefinite duration
Notice of termination of the employment contract and prior written notification of the person being dismissed arethe features of this type of termination.
The written notification must be signed by the employer or by a person legally authorized by him/her
and must bedelivered to the employee at least 1 month and not earlier than 4 months before the termination of the contract (depending on the total period of employment of the person being
dismissed). Oral notification is not lawful and isinvalid.
In the case of a regular notice of termination of an employment contract, all employment relationships end after theabove period of from one to 4 months within which the notification must be delivered.
Termination of an employment contract by the employee
Employees may submit a notification of termination either in written form or orally.
Employees should provide oral or written notice of their resignation to the employer (in Greek) within four monthsbefore the termination of employment.
Employers are not obliged to pay compensation when the contract is terminated by an employee, and the employeeis not entitled to unemployment allowance from the Public Employment Service (DYPA), since there is no prior notice of termination of the contract from the employer, which is a prerequisite for the payment of unemployment benefits.
Probation Period
There is no provision for a probation period in Greece, however, during the first year of employment, a worker inGreece can be dismissed without notice or severance during the first year of employment.
Notice Period
Collective agreements may contain provisions on notice periods if the notice periods in the collective agreement differ from the statutory periods of notice. In that case, the employer and the employee must observe the periods ofnotice laid down in the collective agreement.
The amount of notice is dependent on the length of service and reason for termination. If the contract is terminatedby the employer, the notice period is as follows:
✓No notice is required during the probation period (1st year)
✓Employees with between 1- and 2 years’ service -1-month notice period ✓Employees with between 3- and 5 years’ service – 2 months’ notice period ✓Employees with between 6- and 10 years’ service -3 months’ notice period ✓Employees with more than 10 years’ service – 4 months’ notice period.
Severance pay of private-sector employees with an indefinite term dependent employment relationship in the caseof termination without notice.
An employer who neglects the obligation to give notice of termination of an indefinite term employment contract ofa private-sector employee must pay to the dismissed employee severance pay as mentioned below, unless higher severance pay is due under the contract. The amount of severance is based on the length of the employee’s service.After completing one year’s service, workers will be entitled to severance as follows:
Time of service with the same employer & Amount of compensation
1 full year up to 4 years – 2 months
4 full years up to 6 years – 3 months
6 full years up to 8 years – 4 months
8 full years up to 10 years – 5 months
10 full years – 6 months
11 full years – 7 months
12 full years – 8 months
13 full years – 9 months
14 full years – 10 months
15 full years – 11 months
16 full years and above – 12 months
No severance is required when the worker resigns.
Non-EU employees must acquire a Type D visa before arriving in Greece, allowing employees to stay in Greecefor over 90 days to work. Once an employee has arrived in Greece, they must apply for a residence/work permit within 30 days at the local municipal office or police station. Work permits typically last one year, and any work permit renewal must be done at least 60 days before its expiration.
Business visitors to Greece typically use a local version of the Schengen C Visa unless they are visa exempt. The Schengen Area limits stay to 90 days in 180 days. Business visits must generally be limited to a few days; Greek authorities determine the exact duration of stay on a case-by-case basis. The main work authorization categories are the Installation of Equipment Visa, suitable for short-term installation, testing, and maintenance of supplied items by technical staff under a service agreement; the Work and Residence Permit for Senior Employees, suitable for long-term work and residence under a local employment contract; the EU Blue Card, suitable for highly skilled local hires; and the EU Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) Permit, suitable for intra-company transfers of managers, specialists or trainees from outside the European Union.
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