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Before hiring employees in Greece, there are a few important things you’ll need to know. Firstly, statutory vacation allowance in Greece is based on how long an employee has been employed by any employer, not just their current one. The amount of vacation days an employee is entitled to depends on how long they’ve been working.
In Greece, employees are taxed between 9% to 44% depending on their income bracket. An employer can expect to be taxed 24.8% on top of an employee’s salary.
We know this might sound overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be. A solution like Oyster eliminates the barriers for you. With Oyster, you can automate compliance across 180+ countries, easily managing HR and payroll—all in one, easy-to-use platform.
Get an overview of what you need to know when hiring in Greece below.
Three mandatory bonuses equivalent to two months of salary—half month for Easter, half month for summer, and one month for Christmas.
Working hours in Greece are limited to 40 hours per week. Employers can request that employees work an additional five hours per week (i.e. 9 hours per day). This is known as “overwork” and must be paid at 120%.
This does not apply if they're considered a “managerial employee,” defined as an employee that acts as an owner of the business, or if they receive exceptionally high wages compared to other employees in the business.
Greece has a statutory notice period of 12 months in which employment can be ended immediately with no severance, unless otherwise agreed by both parties.
Notice periods in Greece depend on the duration of employment. The breakdown is as follows:
Non-compete agreements in Greece can be included in an employment agreement provided that they are not too long in duration (two year maximum), are narrowly defined, and are compensated for (typically 50% of an employee’s monthly salary for each month of restriction).
01 Jan
03 May
06 Jan
20 Jun
15 Mar
21 Jun
25 Mar
15 Aug
30 Apr
28 Oct
01 May
25 Dec
02 May
26 Dec
01 Jan
06 Jan
15 Mar
25 Mar
30 Apr
01 May
02 May
03 May
20 Jun
21 Jun
15 Aug
28 Oct
25 Dec
Statutory vacation allowance in Greece is dependent on a combination of the duration of an employee’s time with their current employer and the duration of time with any employer. The breakdown is:
Annual sick leave entitlement depends on the duration of employment. The breakdown is as follows:
Mothers in Greece are generally entitled to 17 weeks of paid leave, eight to be taken before the birth and nine after.
Fathers are entitled to two days of paternity leave.
An employer can expect to contribute 24.8% in social contributions on top of an employee’s salary.
Employees in Greece are taxed from 9% to 44% depending on their income bracket. Social contributions are 15.3%.
For terminations to be valid in Greece, employers are obliged to provide written notice and make a severance payment.
Since May 2019, employers must also have a valid reason to terminate an employment contract, even when statutory severance is paid. Failure to provide a valid reason for terminating an employee could result in a claim from the employee with the burden of proof lying with the employer.
Statutory severance pay varies depending on the duration of employment:
Setting up a business entity everywhere you want to hire a new employee isn’t scalable—it takes too long and the legal fees are high. At the same time, understanding and adhering to the local labor laws and employee expectations can be complex and time consuming. And it’s hard to find reliable information on up-to-date employment information for all the countries where you’re considering hiring. Not to mention tracking down invoices and managing employee contracts over email and spreadsheets—that gets messy fast.
We can’t afford to take risks when it comes to compliance—we need to make sure we follow the local guidelines, especially when it comes to taxes and legalities.
With Oyster, you can manage HR and payroll, and automate compliance across 180+ countries—all in one, easy-to-use platform.
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