Country Guides
Benefits in Greece
Mandatory employee benefits
Social insurance
Employment automatically enrols employees in the Electronic National Social Security Fund (e-EFKA), Greece’s unified social insurance fund. Contributions cover public healthcare, main and supplementary pensions, and unemployment insurance through the Public Employment Service (DYPA).
e-EFKA also pays sickness benefit from the fourth day of illness and the maternity benefit, while DYPA pays the special maternity protection benefit and the first two months of parental leave. Details of the contributions are covered in Taxes.
The three statutory extra payments
Greek law makes the Christmas bonus (one month’s salary), the Easter bonus (half a month’s salary), and the holiday allowance (half a month’s salary) mandatory for every private-sector employee. Together, these form the commonly referenced “14 salaries” structure used in compensation budgeting in Greece.
Details and payment dates are covered in Payment.
Health and safety
Every employer must manage occupational health and safety, including appointing a safety technician, and for those with over 50 employees, an occupational doctor. Employers should also carry out risk assessments, training, and role-based medical examinations.
These requirements are detailed under Health and Safety in Employee Rights.
Non-mandatory benefits
For the most common non-mandatory benefits, Greek law provides favourable tax treatments. The exempt amounts are set out in Taxes:
- Meal vouchers of up to €6 per working day. They are exempt only if given in kind, never as cash, and redeemed through an affiliated network.
- Childcare cost coverage of up to €5,000 a year.
- A birth-support payment of up to €5,000.
- Coverage of hospital costs.
The clearest current market evidence for what other common non-mandatory benefits are comes from the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026 for Greece, based on 3,571 respondents in January 2026. Salary and benefits rank just behind a pleasant work environment as a key attractiveness factor and become the deciding factor, with only 49% of men and 39% of women rating their current package as competitive.
After job security, the extras employees value most are leave and free time, followed by pension and financial-security benefits.
Common components of professional-role packages include:
- Private health and life insurance
- Private pension plans
- Company cars
- Mobile phones and laptops
- Training budgets
- Hybrid work
- Extra leave days
The survey also shows a strong employee preference for flexibility and free time, giving remote and hybrid arrangements particular weight.
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