Employment Contracts in Greece: The 2026 Guide to ERGANI, the 14-Salary System & Severance

An employment contract in Greece is the document that turns a job offer into an enforceable relationship, and Greek labour law is detailed, EU-aligned and recently reformed. Domestic law — including the major reforms of Law 4808/2021 and Law 5053/2023 — together with EU directives and any applicable collective agreement fixes written-terms and ERGANI registration duties, the 14-salary system, working-hour rules, EFKA contributions and statutory severance, and most of these cannot be contracted away. If you also employ people in the Emirates, our UAE payroll and WPS services keep that side compliant while you apply Greece’s rules here — the two systems diverge sharply on income tax, social security, bonuses and wage protection.

This guide walks through what a compliant Greek contract contains and how ERGANI registration works, the contract types and probation limits, how the minimum wage, the 14-salary system, working hours and EFKA contributions operate, and how notice, severance and lawful dismissal are handled — then closes with a practical Greece-versus-UAE comparison for employers building teams in both markets. Country-specific figures that change frequently are flagged [VERIFY] so you confirm the current number with the Greek Ministry of Labour and e-EFKA before relying on it.

Is a written employment contract required in Greece?

Written terms are effectively required, and one step is genuinely mandatory: registration in ERGANI before the employee starts work. Employers must give employees written information on the essential terms of the relationship — parties, job, place of work, start date, salary, working hours, leave, notice — and must electronically register the hire (and later any change or termination) in the ERGANI information system operated by the Ministry of Labour. Certain arrangements — notably part-time, rotational and fixed-term contracts — must additionally be in writing to be valid.

In practice every serious Greek employer issues a full written contract. It is the first line of defence: it fixes salary, hours, probation and the treatment of the statutory bonuses before a disagreement arises, rather than leaving them to be argued afterwards. ERGANI registration is not a formality either — an unregistered employee found on site exposes the employer to significant penalties.

The controlling principle is that the contract cannot fall below the law or below any applicable collective agreement. Where a clause offers less than the statutory minimum — on the minimum wage, leave, bonuses, notice or severance — it is void to that extent and the higher standard applies.

What must a Greek employment contract include (and ERGANI)?

A compliant contract records the statutory essentials plus the commercial terms, and the hire is then registered in ERGANI. The table below sets out what employers are expected to document.

Beyond these, employers commonly add confidentiality and IP-assignment clauses and, where justified, a reasonable non-compete. The single most important compliance step to get right on day one is registering the hire in ERGANI before the employee begins — the rest of the contract sits on top of that obligation.

What types of employment contracts exist in Greece?

Greece recognises several contract structures, and the choice affects security, renewal and how the relationship ends. The most common are indefinite-term contracts, fixed-term contracts, and part-time or rotational arrangements, alongside genuine independent-services engagements that fall outside employment law.

The recurring trap is successive fixed-term contracts: where renewals exceed the statutory limit on number or total duration without objective justification, the relationship is generally deemed indefinite, with the protection that follows [VERIFY] the current cap. Misclassifying an employee as an independent-services provider to avoid EFKA and statutory benefits is equally risky — Greek authorities look at subordination and the reality of the relationship, not the label. This mirrors the UAE choice between a MOHRE employment contract and a freelancer engagement, which our payroll team helps structure correctly.

What are the probationary-period rules in Greece?

Under the recent reforms, an indefinite-term contract is treated as being on a probationary (trial) footing for up to the first six months. During this period the contract can generally be ended without the notice and severance that would otherwise apply, provided the arrangement is handled correctly and is not abusive or discriminatory [VERIFY] the current rule.

Because the probation framework was changed by legislation and its precise operation (including how it interacts with severance if the trial is not completed) is technical, confirm the current maximum and its effects before relying on it [VERIFY]. What matters commercially is that the first months of an indefinite contract carry more flexibility to part ways — but the ERGANI registration and non-discrimination rules still apply throughout.

What are the minimum wage and the 14-salary system in Greece?

Greece sets a statutory national minimum wage (katótatos misthós), reviewed periodically by the government, and — distinctively — private-sector pay is traditionally structured across effectively 14 salaries a year. On top of twelve monthly salaries, employees are entitled to a Christmas bonus (about one month), an Easter bonus (about half a month), and a holiday allowance (about half a month).

What are the working-hours and overtime rules in Greece?

The standard working week is 40 hours over five days, at 8 hours per day. Recent labour reforms (Law 5053/2023 and related measures) introduced additional flexibility — including, in defined circumstances, a longer permitted daily limit and the option of a sixth working day for certain continuous-operation businesses, with premium pay — alongside the existing overwork and overtime framework. Because these changes are significant and their scope is specific, verify exactly what applies to your business before scheduling [VERIFY].

The reform-era rules on the sixth day and extended hours are exactly the kind of provision that changes and is easy to misapply, so treat any specific figure as provisional until checked against the current law [VERIFY]. Overtime worked without the required approvals or premiums exposes the employer to penalties regardless of the contract.

What annual leave and statutory bonuses apply in Greece?

Employees earn paid annual leave that scales with length of service. As a general guide, a full year on a five-day week gives around 20 working days of paid leave (more on a six-day week), rising by a day or so with tenure up to a statutory maximum, and employees also receive the holiday allowance alongside their leave [VERIFY].

Leave entitlements and family-leave schemes are periodically adjusted, and the exact day-counts depend on the five- or six-day week and length of service, so confirm the current rules before writing them into a contract [VERIFY]. Contractual leave can always exceed the statutory floor, but never fall below it.

How do EFKA social security contributions work in Greece?

Greek payroll runs through EFKA (e-EFKA), the unified social security fund. Both employer and employee contribute a percentage of salary, with the employer bearing the larger share, and the contributions cover pension, health and unemployment among other branches. The employer withholds the employee’s share and its own contribution and remits the total, and also withholds personal income tax under a PAYE-style system.

Worked example: cost of a local hire

Assume an employee on a gross monthly salary of €2,000. On top of gross pay the employer owes its EFKA employer contribution (a meaningful percentage of salary), and the employee has their own EFKA share plus income tax withheld from the €2,000. Across the year the employer also funds the Christmas, Easter and holiday allowances — effectively a fourteenth month. So a €2,000 monthly salary costs the employer well above €2,000 per month once employer EFKA and the 14th-salary effect are included, while the employee’s net is lower after deductions. The exact contribution rates change periodically and must be confirmed [VERIFY] — but the shape matters: budget employer EFKA and the extra bonuses on top of gross.

What notice period and severance pay apply in Greece?

For indefinite-term employees, dismissal generally requires written form and payment of statutory severance (apozímios apolýsis), and the amount scales with length of service. An employer can either give the applicable advance written notice — which reduces the severance payable — or dismiss with immediate effect and pay the full severance.

Worked example: severance on dismissal

Severance in Greece is calculated on a statutory ladder that increases with years of service and is expressed in months of salary. As an illustration, a longer-serving white-collar employee dismissed without notice could be entitled to several months’ salary, while giving the required advance notice would roughly halve the amount payable [VERIFY] the exact figures for the length of service. Because the ladder is detailed and depends on tenure and salary category, compute the entitlement carefully — but the takeaway is clear: severance and its written, ERGANI-registered process are non-negotiable parts of a lawful dismissal.

How do you terminate employment lawfully in Greece?

A lawful dismissal of an indefinite-term employee generally requires written form, payment of the statutory severance, and processing through ERGANI. Greek law has historically allowed ordinary dismissal without proving “just cause” provided severance is paid — but the dismissal must not be abusive, discriminatory or otherwise unlawful, and recent reform strengthened protection against unfair dismissal, including on the burden of proof. So even where severance is paid, the reason and process still matter.

Certain employees enjoy enhanced protection — for example, protections connected with pregnancy and maternity, and against dismissal for exercising protected rights — and a dismissal that breaches these can be declared invalid. Because a defective dismissal (wrong form, unpaid severance, no ERGANI processing, or an abusive/discriminatory motive) can be challenged and overturned, many employers document the grounds carefully or use a negotiated, mutually-agreed separation to reduce risk. Whichever route is used, getting the written form, severance and ERGANI steps right is essential.

How does hiring a foreign employee in Greece differ?

Nationality drives the process. EU/EEA and Swiss nationals can work in Greece freely without a permit. For non-EU nationals, the employer generally needs the person to hold a residence permit with work authorisation (or a combined work-and-residence route), and Greece participates in the EU Blue Card scheme for highly qualified employment, which has its own salary and qualification thresholds.

Immigration categories, salary thresholds and procedures are adjusted periodically, so treat any specific requirement as provisional until checked with the competent Greek authorities [VERIFY]. Foreign employees are generally still enrolled in EFKA and taxed on Greece-sourced employment income, subject to any treaty relief. This contrasts with the UAE, where work authorisation runs through MOHRE (or the free-zone authority) and there is no personal income tax on salary — the subject of the comparison below.

Greece vs UAE: what changes when you hire in the Emirates?

Greece and the UAE are both attractive bases, so companies often build teams in both. But the compliance machinery is very different, and applying Greek habits to a UAE hire (or vice versa) leaves gaps. If you employ people in the Emirates, our UAE payroll and WPS setup handles the local mechanics; here is what actually differs.

Three differences matter most day to day. First, the UAE has no personal income tax, no EFKA-style social security for expatriates and no 14-salary system, so an expat salary carries no PAYE withholding, no social-insurance deduction and no statutory bonuses — instead an end-of-service gratuity accrues and is paid on exit, and only UAE and GCC nationals join GPSSA. Second, UAE salaries must flow through WPS, a MOHRE-monitored transfer system, and non-compliance can block new work permits — there is no ERGANI equivalent. Third, UAE dismissal, while regulated, does not carry Greece’s written-severance-plus-anti-abuse framework. On the corporate side, employers should also keep UAE corporate tax and, where turnover crosses the threshold, VAT in view. If you’re standing up a UAE entity to employ people, our company incorporation team and payroll specialists set the whole stack up correctly.

Common employment-contract mistakes to avoid in Greece

The disputes we see almost always trace back to a handful of avoidable drafting and process errors. Fixing these at the contract stage is far cheaper than a labour-inspectorate penalty or a court claim later.

• Not registering in ERGANI before the start date — an unregistered employee exposes the employer to significant penalties.
• Budgeting 12 salaries, not 14 — the Christmas, Easter and holiday allowances are statutory; model the full annual cost.
• Abusing successive fixed-term contracts — exceeding the cap without justification converts the relationship to indefinite [VERIFY].
• Dismissing without written form or severance — the dismissal can be declared invalid; pay severance and document the grounds.
• Misapplying the reform-era hours rules — the sixth day and extended-hours provisions are narrow; verify before scheduling [VERIFY].
• Copy-pasting a foreign template — a UAE contract routed through WPS with a gratuity clause is not a Greek contract with ERGANI, EFKA and the 14-salary system; use the right template for each jurisdiction.