Before you hire in Greece
The Greece hiring picture, at a glance.
Greece has its own rules on pay, contributions and ending employment. Get the setup wrong and it turns into back-pay, penalties and claims. Here is what shapes a hire in Greece; the exact figures for your role come in writing from our team.
Budget beyond salary
Account for applicable employer costs, benefits, service fees and setup before approving the hire.
Choose the working relationship
Match employment, contracting or managed delivery to the work and who directs it.
Plan leave and exit
Agree who handles absence, final pay and employment obligations before the first hire starts.
Working week
Standard working hours are 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week; overtime is regulated with escalating premiums under Greek labour law.
Payroll cycle
Monthly payroll cycle, generally paid at month end.
Time to hire
Typically 1–3 weeks via EOR
Sent with your 24-hour written scope
These change often and depend on your role, salary and location, so we confirm them for you rather than publish a number that may be out of date: employer contributions and caps, the current minimum wage for your role, notice and severance, sick and parental leave cost, and the public-holiday calendar.
Get my Greece figures in writing →Statutory baseline vs market practice
Greece has strengths in shipping, tourism, technology and a growing shared-services/BPO sector centered on Athens and Thessaloniki, operating in EET with strong overlap for EU teams.
Gracemark recommendation: EOR is the standard route to hire compliantly given Greece's structured social contribution and severance rules, unless setting up a substantial local entity.
The guidance above is drawn from the official sources listed below. Typical market practice in Greece often sits above the statutory floor, and the right model depends on the role, salary band and engagement type.
What creates exposure in Greece
- Missing mandatory 13th/14th salary bonus obligations in cost modeling
- ERGANI digital work-card and notification compliance
- EFKA registration and contribution timing
- Recent labour law reforms (Law 4808/2021, Law 5053/2023) requiring monitoring
Reviewed and verified. Figures reflect current Greece statutory baselines, checked against the public sources listed below with their access dates.
Sources and effective dates
Last reviewed: September 10, 2026Reviewer: Gracemark Workforce OperationsNext review: December 10, 2026Ask about these requirements Educational workforce-planning information, not legal or tax advice. Requirements and service availability depend on the worker, role, location, compensation and engagement model; Gracemark reviews the current position before engagement.