Employee benefitsin Greece

A private-sector employee undergoing medically assisted reproduction receives seven working days of paid leave for each treatment occasion, supported by a certificate from the treating doctor or the director of the assisted-reproduction unit. The leave is separate from an employer insurance policy’s fertility-treatment reimbursement.

An employee woman receives one day of paid leave each year for a gynaecological check, without a prior-service condition. Pregnant employees also have paid release for prenatal examinations that must take place during working time, after notifying the employer.

Private medical insurance is a common component of professional-role packages. It supplements public care with access to insured private treatment. The policy determines hospital and outpatient coverage, dependants, co-payments, waiting periods and employer funding.

Employers can provide a payment supporting employees when a child is born. Eligibility, payment timing and documentation follow the employer scheme, while any tax exemption has separate legal conditions. This payment is distinct from public maternity income replacement. Qualifying employer birth support paid within 12 months after childbirth can be excluded from employment income up to EUR 5,000, increased by EUR 5,000 for each other dependent child the recipient parent has at the birth. The exemption has separate scheme and eligibility conditions.

Employment brings registration with the unified social-insurance fund, e-EFKA, which supports pensions, healthcare and sickness protection. The public employment service administers unemployment and several family benefits. Employee and employer contributions have different components and earnings ceilings; the total cost must follow the worker’s actual insurance category.

An additional dismissal payment survives for employees who had already completed at least 17 years with the same employer on 12 November 2012. The extra amount is one month of remuneration for 17 completed years on that date, increasing by one month per additional completed year to 12 months at 28 years or more. Service for this extra component is frozen at that historical date and its monthly remuneration base is capped at EUR 2,000. Proper notice halves the extra payment. This protected supplement is added to the current general schedule; accumulating 17 years today does not create eligibility.

An indefinite-contract employee leaving with the employer’s prior consent can qualify for 50% of the statutory payment for dismissal without notice after 15 years with that employer, or after reaching the applicable pension age. Where the insurance scheme sets no such age, the fallback is 65. Employer consent must precede the departure. This specific arrangement does not make every voluntary resignation eligible for severance.

For a qualifying indefinite-contract dismissal without notice, the statutory payment is two months of remuneration after one completed year, three after four years, four after six and five after eight. It becomes six months after ten years, then increases by one month for each completed year to 12 months after 16 years or more. Proper notice halves these amounts. The calculation uses the last regular monthly remuneration, including the recurring holiday-payment share, which increases the monthly base by one sixth. Payment normally accompanies immediate dismissal or falls due when notice ends. Where compensation exceeds two months, the law permits an initial two-month amount and remaining instalments every two months, each normally at least two months’ remuneration. Protected historical supplements are calculated separately.

Professional-role packages commonly include private life insurance. A covered death triggers the policy’s insured payout to beneficiaries; the plan defines the sum insured, exclusions and any continuation after employment ends. Premium funding and death-benefit value are separate measures.

Private pension plans are a common component of professional-role packages. Employer and employee contributions build supplementary retirement saving alongside public pension protection. Plan rules determine contribution levels, investment options, eligibility and access to accumulated funds.

Paid annual leave accrues from the start of employment. The first-year full-year basis is 20 working days on a five-day week or 24 on a six-day week, prorated to service. Entitlement rises after 12 months to 21 workingdays on five days or 25 on six, and after 24 months to 22 or 26 respectively. After ten years with the employer or 12 total years, it is 25 or 30; after 25 years it becomes 26 or 31. The employer must grant the prior year’s entitlement by 31 March. The second calendar year is prorated, with the entitlement increasing after completed service; from the third calendar year the full annual entitlement is available at any time. An employee’s request must be granted within two months.

Split leave requires a written employee request and employer acceptance. At least one block must contain five consecutive working days on a five-day schedule, six on a six-day schedule or 12 for minors. If leave remains ungranted after 31 March of the following year, the employer owes the leave pay, doubled where the employer is at fault.

After at least ten days of actual work, an employee who cannot work because of illness or another serious reason outside their fault retains a limited claim to wages. The employer’s continuation obligation is capped at half a month if the incapacity begins before the first employment anniversary, or one month if it begins after at least a year. The entitlement operates by employment year, starting on the hiring anniversary. For the first three days of illness the employer pays half the daily wage or corresponding monthly-salary fraction. Afterwards, mandatory public sickness cash payments can be deducted from the employer’s liability. The separate one-, three-, four- and six-month illness windows concern whether absence is treated as resignation; they do not extend employer salary continuation to six months.

A qualifying sole parent receives six additional paid working days a year, rising to eight for three or more children. The right covers the specified bereavement, sole-custody and sole-parental-responsibility situations, including qualifying court orders or written separation agreements. It normally ends when parental responsibility or custody ends at adulthood; continued special care for severe or chronic illness or disability can justify leave beyond age 18.

An employee marrying or entering a civil partnership receives five paid working days on a five-day working week or six on a six-day week. This leave is additional to annual holiday entitlement.

An employee parent receives 20 days of paid leave following the death of their child. There is no prior-service condition. This specific child-bereavement entitlement is separate from the shorter general bereavement leave for other relatives.

Each eligible parent receives ten paid working days a year for a child up to and including age 18 who needs blood transfusions, dialysis or a transplant, has cancer, or has a listed rare condition accompanied by at least 67% disability. Severe intellectual disability, Down syndrome and autism qualify regardless of the child’s age. The right is individual to each parent and follows exhaustion of other related paid leave, excluding annual holidays.

Parents may take hours or full days, up to four paid working days per child each calendar year, to visit the child’s school and follow their progress and school life. The child must attend primary or secondary education and be no older than 18; qualifying special-education or disability-care attendance has no child-age limit. Where both parents qualify, they share the four-day total and give matching declarations to their employers. Night workers can also use the right.

A parent or carer can take paid absence for urgent family reasons caused by illness or accident requiring their immediate presence. The entitlement covers up to two occasions each year, for one working day on each occasion. The illness or accident must be supported by medical evidence. This paid emergency absence is separate from the annual unpaid carer entitlement.

Each parent can take unpaid leave while a child is hospitalised because illness or an accident makes the parent’s immediate presence necessary. The child’s age does not limit the right. Leave lasts for the hospitalisation, up to 30 working days a year, alongside the other family-leave arrangements.

After six months of employment, a worker can take up to five working days of unpaid carer leave each calendar year to provide substantial care or support to a relative or someone in the same household with a serious medical need. Medical evidence supports the request. This entitlement is separate from leave for a sick child and from paid urgent-family absence.

A parent has an individual, non-transferable right to unpaid leave when a child or another covered dependent family member is ill. The annual limit is six days where the parent protects one child, eight for two children and 14 for more than two. The legal definition of a covered dependant applies; this is separate from paid emergency family absence and paid leave for specified serious childhood illnesses.

A full-time or part-time employee may agree unpaid leave in writing with the employer for up to one year. A further agreement can extend it. The employment contract is suspended during the leave and social-insurance contributions are not due for that period; contractual rights and obligations resume when the leave ends.

An employee donating blood or platelets receives full pay for the donation day, up to twice a year. The employee supplies a certificate from the medical institution and normally gives at least five working days’ notice; emergency calls are exempt from that notice. Where simultaneous requests create an exceptional scheduling problem, employer and employee may agree to take the leave within ten days of donation.

Professional-role packages commonly include additional leave above the service-based legal minimum. The policy identifies the total allowance and whether extra days accrue with service or are provided for particular personal events. Extra vacation is separate from the statutory holiday allowance payment.

Private-sector maternity leave lasts 17 weeks: eight before childbirth and nine after. Both periods are compulsory. If the baby arrives early, unused prenatal time moves after birth so total leave remains 17 weeks. Social-insurance benefits and any employer salary obligation have separate eligibility and calculation rules; leave duration alone does not guarantee full uncapped pay.

An eligible salaried mother can take nine months of special maternity-protection leave after maternity leave, equivalent childcare leave or annual leave, giving the employer one month’s notice. DYPA, the public employment agency, pays the current minimum monthly wage plus proportional holiday payments and provides insurance cover. The amount is halved if average employment in the preceding six months was no more than four hours a day or 13 days a month. Up to seven months can be transferred to the father, including a qualifying self-employed father. For a child of same-sex spouses, the parents designate the recipient and can transfer up to seven months to the other parent. Adoption and continued-insurance conditions apply.

Employee fathers receive 14 working days of paid paternity leave. The entitlement is independent of prior service and marital status. It may be split with two days before the expected birth and the remaining 12 within 30 days after, or taken after birth. The employer funds the pay. Qualifying adoption or fostering of a child up to age eight also gives leave from placement. If a newborn is hospitalised during the first month, employer and employee can agree that some or all leave follows discharge.

An employee adopting a child under eight and an intended mother recognised under the statutory surrogacy route qualify for the nine-week postnatal part of maternity leave from the child’s entry into the family. Associated pay and benefits depend on the relevant insurance requirements.

Each parent has an individual, non-transferable four-month parental-leave entitlement until the child turns eight, normally after one year with the same employer. The first two months attract a public allowance equal to the current statutory minimum monthly wage, plus proportional holiday payments; the remaining period is not automatically employer-paid. Apply in writing or electronically at least one month ahead unless an urgent reason requires shorter notice. A parent of twins or other multiples has leave for each child without the usual year of actual work between children and receives two extra allowance months in total. Specified sole parents receive double leave and allowance. For other successive children, one year of actual employment must normally separate the leave periods. The employer normally answers within one month and must grant leave within two months of application unless otherwise agreed.

Eligible parents may use one paid hour of reduced work each day for 30 months after maternity leave, special maternity protection or parental leave ends. The parent can arrive later, leave earlier or interrupt work. By agreement, alternatives include two hours a day for the first 12 months and one for the following six, equivalent full days or equivalent continuous leave. Parents coordinate and can share the entitlement; it also applies where the other parent does not work. Part-time arrangements are proportional. Adoptive and foster parents qualify from family placement before the child turns eight.

Employer childcare assistance helps cover eligible care costs for employees’ children. The scheme defines approved costs, reimbursement and covered children. Tax relief available for a design does not make the full exempt amount a mandatory allowance. Qualifying employer support for nursery or childcare-centre expenses can be excluded from employment income up to EUR 5,000 annually. The exemption has scheme and eligibility conditions; it is not a legal duty to give every employee that sum.

Private-sector employees qualify for a Christmas bonus, with the full amount linked to employment throughout 1 May–31 December and a prorated amount for a shorter period. For monthly paid employees the full bonus is one month’s salary. It is paid by 21 December and remains distinct from any discretionary performance award. Daily-paid workers receive 25 daily wages for the full qualifying period. A shorter employment period earns 2/25 of a monthly salary, or two daily wages, for each 19 calendar days in the qualifying period, with a proportional fraction for fewer days.

Private-sector employees receive a separate Easter bonus. For a monthly salaried employee with the full qualifying service period, it is half a month’s salary; shorter service gives a proportional payment. Together with the Christmas bonus and holiday allowance, it forms the annual compensation structure often described as 14 salaries. The full service reference is 1 January–30 April. A daily-paid worker receives 15 daily wages for that full period. Shorter service earns 1/15 of half a monthly salary, or one daily wage, for each eight calendar days in the reference period, with a proportionate fraction for fewer days. Payment is due by the Wednesday before Orthodox Easter; the employer may retain the part relating to the remaining reference period until 30 April. The calculation normally uses regular remuneration paid 15 days before Easter, or remuneration at termination if employment ended earlier. Unjustified absence, strikes and unpaid leave do not count toward the qualifying period; sickness days are excluded only when public sickness benefit was paid. Compulsory maternity absence counts.

Employees receive their usual remuneration during paid vacation and an additional holiday allowance. The allowance is calculated like holiday pay but capped at half a monthly salary for salaried employees or 13 daily wages for daily-paid workers. Vacation pay and the allowance are paid in advance at the start of leave.

Homeworking reimbursement has separate components: EUR 13 a month for use of the home, EUR 10 for communications and EUR 5 for equipment maintenance. Communications or equipment components do not apply when the employer pays or supplies them directly. For fewer than 22 homeworking days, the allowance is prorated by one twenty-second per homeworking day. These are minimum expense reimbursements, separate from salary, and are exempt from income taxes, fees and employer or worker social-insurance contributions.

Parents of children through age 12 and carers can request arrangements such as remote work, flexible hours or part-time work after six months with the employer. The request supports care needs; it does not automatically entitle the employee to their preferred arrangement. Dismissal because the employee requested or used protected leave or care flexibility is prohibited.

Company cars are included in professional-role packages. The policy identifies whether the vehicle is for business or private use, who pays fuel and maintenance, and what happens when employment ends. Private-use tax treatment is separate from the employer’s cost.

Professional-role packages commonly provide a laptop and mobile phone. The equipment policy defines the approved devices, maintenance, permitted personal use and return arrangements. Equipment needed to perform work is distinct from an additional home-office cash grant.

Hybrid work is a common component of professional-role packages, combining home and workplace days. The agreement determines attendance, availability, equipment and cost reimbursement. The agreement sets the number of homeworking days.

Training budgets are a common part of professional-role packages. Employers fund approved development activities that build job-related skills. The policy sets eligible courses, approval, reimbursement evidence and whether learning takes place during paid working time.

Employer packages use restricted-use meal vouchers to support food during workdays. Vouchers differ from cash meal allowances, and tax-favoured treatment depends on their form, use and limits. The employer policy defines daily funding and eligibility. Qualifying printed or electronic vouchers have a EUR 6-per-working-day exemption limit. The contribution exemption requires monthly provision for food during work and redemption for eligible food or drinks through a contracted merchant network; the conditions apply together. This limit is distinct from a compulsory employer payment or a cash allowance.

International-assignment packages can include travel allowances or reimbursement of approved travel expenses. The agreement identifies eligible journeys, family eligibility, documentation and payment limits. This support is separate from local commuting, meal funding and public family-care benefits.

An agreed probationary period cannot exceed six months. In a fixed-term contract it must also be proportionate to the contract and work, and cannot exceed one quarter of the agreed total employment period. Renewal for the same position and duties cannot start another probation. An absence that suspends employment can extend probation by the corresponding time. Probation is distinct from the service thresholds governing ordinary statutory dismissal compensation.

Fixed-term renewals need an objective justification, recorded in the written renewal or apparent from it. Without such a reason, successive contracts with the same employer on the same or similar terms are presumed to meet permanent needs when their combined duration exceeds three years, or when renewals exceed three within three years. This can lead to indefinite employment. Contracts are treated as successive for this rule where the gap between them is no more than 45 days.

The employer must give the employee written core terms within one week after work starts, including the parties, workplace, duties, start date, fixed-term duration, probation, pay and working schedule. Information on training, paid leave, termination procedures, applicable collective agreements, social-insurance bodies and any indirect employer is due within one month. Paper or electronic delivery can be used. Changes to required terms must be communicated no later than the date they take effect, except for changes in legislation or agreements already referenced by the written information.

For 2026 onward, the EUR 10,000–20,000 and EUR 20,000–30,000 bands fall respectively to 18% and 24% with one dependent child, 16% and 22% with two, or 9% and 20% with three. Four dependent children bring zero tax on the first EUR 20,000 and 18% on the next EUR 10,000; each further child lowers that third-band rate by two percentage points. Taxpayers through age 25 pay zero on the first EUR 20,000. Ages 26–30 pay 9% on the second band, or zero with at least four dependent children. The annual salary tax credit is EUR 777 without children, EUR 900 with one, EUR 1,120 with two, EUR 1,340 with three, EUR 1,580 with four and EUR 1,780 with five, plus EUR 220 for every further child. The credit cannot exceed calculated tax and reduces by EUR 20 per EUR 1,000 of salary or pension income above EUR 12,000.

From the 2026 tax year, salary income is taxed at marginal rates of 9% through EUR 10,000, 20% on the next EUR 10,000, 26% from EUR 20,000 to EUR 30,000, 34% from EUR 30,000 to EUR 40,000, 39% from EUR 40,000 to EUR 60,000 and 44% above EUR 60,000. These rates apply to each band rather than the whole salary. Dependent children and age can reduce the lower bands, and salary tax credits reduce the resulting tax. Payroll withholding and final annual liability can differ.

From 1 April 2026, the gross minimum wage for full-time salaried employees is EUR 920 per ordinary month and the daily minimum for wage workers is EUR 41.09. The private-sector Christmas, Easter and holiday payments are additional; a full year at the monthly floor produces EUR 12,880 across the 14-payment structure. Recognised seniority and applicable collective agreements can require higher pay. For employees paid at the statutory minimum, recognised service adds 10% for each completed three-year period for salaried staff, up to three periods and 30% after nine years. Daily-paid manual workers receive 5% per three-year period, up to six periods and 30% after 18 years. Service with any employer or specialty before 14 February 2012 and from 1 January 2024 is recognised under this statutory rule; the frozen interval does not accrue seniority. Collective-agreement seniority rules can instead depend on the sector or specialty. At the current monthly floor, the salaried stages are EUR 1,012, EUR 1,104 and EUR 1,196. Total pay must meet the applicable minimum; treatment of existing higher pay needs a separate check.

On a five-day schedule, hours 41–45 weekly are extra work paid with a 20% premium on the paid hourly rate; on six days this stage runs through hour 48. These hours do not use the separate 150-hour annual overtime allowance. Work beyond 45 weekly or nine daily on five days, or 48 weekly or eight daily on six days, is overtime. Lawful ordinary overtime pays a 40% premium and is ordinarily limited to 150 hours annually and four hours daily under the 2025 reform. Special Ministry permission for work beyond those limits uses a 60% premium; illegal overtime attracts 120% extra compensation. These are premiums added to the hourly rate, so 20%, 40%, 60% and 120% correspond to 120%, 140%, 160% and 220% total pay.

Advance electronic overtime declaration is required unless the employer lawfully uses the digital-work-card retrospective system; that system reports by the end of the following calendar month. Sunday and official-holiday work has a separate 75% addition based on the statutory pay base. More than five hours of Sunday work normally also gives 24 hours of substitute weekly rest; a shorter Sunday spell can support equivalent rest on request. Public-holiday work does not automatically give the same Sunday rest entitlement.

Night work between 22:00 and 06:00 carries a 25% premium based on statutory remuneration. The night premium and overtime premium use their respective calculation bases; neither should be confused with a flat 25% increase for every additional hour.

The ordinary contractual week is 40 hours: eight hours a day on a five-day schedule or six hours and 40 minutes on a six-day schedule. This differs from the statutory thresholds used to identify extra work and overtime: nine hours daily or 45 weekly on five days, and eight hours daily or 48 weekly on six days. Shorter agreed hours can apply.

When daily work exceeds four hours, employees receive a break of 15–30 minutes during which they can leave the workplace. This break is outside working time and cannot be placed immediately at the beginning or end of the shift. A properly agreed redistribution can increase ordinary days to ten hours on five days or eight hours 40 minutes on six days, balanced by reduced hours, rest or paid leave over a reference period of one week to 12 months. A qualifying four-day arrangement can distribute 40 hours as ten daily; it does not permit work beyond those daily/weekly limits under that arrangement. Refusing the required individual arrangement cannot itself justify dismissal.

Ordinary daily rest is at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period. Weekly rest is at least 24 consecutive hours, normally including Sunday, plus the 11-hour daily rest. A five-day working arrangement gives two weekly rest days. Total weekly work, including overtime, must average no more than 48 hours over at most four months.

Employer notice for an indefinite employment contract is one month after one completed year of service, two months after two, three months after five and four months after ten. Proper notice reduces the statutory dismissal payment to half the amount due for immediate dismissal. The employer may release the employee from work during notice while continuing full pay; the employee may start another job without losing that notice pay or the dismissal payment. Written dismissal, insurance registration and the applicable payment rules remain necessary.

For an employee insured under the standard mixed insurance package 101, the employer contribution is 21.79% and the worker contribution 13.37%, totalling 35.16% of the applicable insured-pay base. These rates have applied since 1 January 2025. The insurance-package code matters: hazardous work, special occupations and other coverage combinations can have different rates.

Within the ordinary rules, main pension funding is 20%: 13.33% employer and 6.67% worker. Health funding is 6.10%: employer 3.80% for healthcare services rather than cash payments plus 0.25% for cash sickness benefits, and worker 1.65% plus 0.40% respectively. The package total also includes its other covered branches; these component rates are not added on top of the total.

From 1 January 2026, the monthly insurable-pay ceiling is EUR 7,761.94. Christmas and Easter payments and the vacation allowance are also contributory, with the applicable ceiling assessed separately. Qualifying premium amounts for full-time night work, extra work, overtime and Sunday or holiday work are excluded from contributions under the current rules. The employer withholds the worker share and remits both shares.

Voluntary tips that employees receive from customers in return for service can be exempt from employment income tax up to EUR 300 a month. The treatment concerns qualifying customer tips, rather than a standard employer bonus or substitute for contractual wages. The relevant statutory conditions and reporting treatment still apply.

A service or work contract can be presumed to conceal employment where the individual personally works exclusively or mainly for the same employer for nine consecutive months. The presumption shifts the burden of proving genuine independence to the employer; the contract label alone does not determine status. The actual working relationship and applicable legal tests remain decisive.

Illustrative monthly salary planning figures are EUR 1,580 for an accountant, EUR 2,190 for a software engineer, EUR 2,770 for a business analyst, EUR 3,890 for a sales manager and EUR 2,710 for a project manager. The paired published dollar illustrations are USD 1,730, USD 2,398, USD 3,033, USD 4,260 and USD 2,968 respectively. These are undated role examples, not current occupational averages, guaranteed offers or statutory pay floors. Actual offers depend on experience, responsibilities and the contract; the current legal minimum and required additional payments apply separately.