Greece

• New Year's Day
• Epiphany
• Clean Monday
• Independence Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Labour Day
• Holy Spirit Monday
• Dormition of the Holy Virgin
• Ochi Day
• Christmas Day
• Synaxis of the Mother of God

Working Hours

The standard work week is 8 hours a day over 5 days or 40 hours per week. Employees may work 9 hours a day if it does not exceed the 40-hour week. Work hours can also be extended to 10 hours per week over 6 months, but with a proportional reduction in hours or rest days within the next same period.

Within 8 consecutive months, work hours can also increase to 256 hours with the appropriate reduced hours in the next 8-month period. Work over 45 hours a week must be compensated at overtime rates. It also depends on the sector of employment.

Minimum Wage

January 2023: Private Sector minimum wage:  €773.50 per month.                                              From April 2023: €751 per month.

Employee Tax

Annual income	Tax rate
Up to EUR 10,000	9%
EUR 10,001 - 20,000	22%
EUR 20,001 - 30,000	28%
EUR 30,001 - 40,000	36%
More than EUR 40,000	44%
Social security (EFKA) contribution	15.33%

Bonuses

Christmas Bonus: an additional one month salary in December (13th salary).                                Easter Bonus: half a month's salary.                             Holiday Bonus: half a month's salary paid before the annual paid leave (normally the beginning of summer).

Employees may also be entitled to discretionary bonuses.

Employment contracts in Greece do not have to be in writing except in specific cases, such as employment with the state/public corporation, part-time, or rotation employment.

However, within two months of employment, the employer must provide a written document including the below:

• Employer and employee details
• Workplace
• Job title and responsibilities
• Work start date and length of the contract
• Salary, leave entitlement, benefits, time of payments, and working hours
• Collective agreement information
• Termination terms and compensation
Employers can undertake background screening checks for employment purposes.

Annual Leave

Leave entitlement depends on the length of the  employee's service with the same employer. The minimum is 20 days paid holiday for employees who have worked 5 days a week for 12 months.

Sick Leave

Sick leave depends on the length of the employee's accrued employment, with a maximum of 6 months for employees over 15 years of service.

Parental Leave

• Maternity leave: 17 weeks' paid leave, with eight weeks to be taken before the birth and the nine weeks afterwards.
• Paternity leave: fathers can take up to 2 days of paid leave and are entitled to additional leave if not taken by the mother.
• Parental leave: for 2.5 years (or 30 months), mothers can either begin work one hour later or finish one hour earlier.  Alternatively, 2 hours' leave can be taken in the first 12 months (on agreement with the employer), leaving 1 hour off for the next 6 months. If not utilised by the mother, it can be taken by the father. Parents are each entitled to 3.5 months' unpaid leave, beginning at the end of the maternity leave until the child reaches 3.5 years of age.

Termination Process

In Greece, employers and employees can terminate an indefinite term contract at any time, with written notice according to the legal requirements and payment of compensation.  The notice period depends on the employee's length of service. Employees with less than one year's service may be terminated without advance notice and compensation.

Fixed-term employment contracts may be terminated for the below reasons, without compensation before their date of expiry:

• Serious breach of contract
• Employee's repeated tardiness and unacceptable absences
• Neglect of duties
• Employee misconduct
• Employer abusive conduct
• Incompetence

Severance Pay

Severance is paid to employees with a minimum of one year of service. Severance pay depends on the employee's length of service and whether the employer has provided the required notice.  Employers are not required to pay severance on fixed-term contracts before expiry, if termination reasons are serious.

Under a Mauve Group Employer of Record solution, clients and workers can reap the benefits of Mauve’s Global Master Insurance Programme – a market-leading unified corporate insurance programme that connects all Mauve entities to its two preferred providers.

The insurance provides coverage in overseas locations through a combination of the master policy and its linked local policies, where required by law in certain jurisdictions.  The policies include:

• Employer’s Liability and Public Liability - £10,000,000 combined limit.
• Professional Indemnity - £5,000,000 limit.
• Worker’s Compensation – Limit is dependent on location of work.

For specific information about statutory and recommended insurances in your chosen country, get in touch with Mauve.