Greece

Companies hiring in Greece generally consider four approaches: running payroll from HQ for short-term arrangements, engaging contractors for genuinely project-based work, setting up a local entity to hire directly, or partnering with an Employer of Record. An EOR allows compliant Greek employment without establishing a local entity, which is important in a country where employment must be declared in ERGANI II before the first day, and pay follows a fourteen-payment structure.

An Employer of Record is the legal employer of the individual in Greece for government, tax, and social insurance purposes. It provides a Greek employment relationship, files the ERGANI II hiring declaration, runs payroll with the statutory bonuses, remits e-EFKA contributions and withholding tax, and administers leave, sick pay and family leave. The company sources the worker, manages the day-to-day work, and funds payroll each cycle.

Yes. Greek statutory rights attach to the employment relationship itself: annual leave, the fourteen payments, sick pay, maternity, paternity and parental leave, notice and severance, e-EFKA healthcare and pension. An employee hired through an EOR has a standard Greek employment contract and receives the full set.

Boundless works with employment lawyers and advisers in the countries it operates in, including Greece. Employment terms and onboarding documents follow the local rules, and the Greek specifics – ERGANI II declarations, the digital work card, the bonus calendar, telework terms, notice and severance mechanics – are built into how the employment is run. When a sensitive question arises, the internal team takes it to local counsel promptly.

Yes, for genuinely independent, project-based work. Greece enforces the boundary strictly: work performed personally and predominantly for one company for nine months is presumed to be employment. Freelancers working under written contracts for up to three clients are taxed as employees (subject to further conditions), and undeclared work costs €10,500 per person. Multi-client freelancers with real independence remain a lawful option.

An ERGANI II hiring declaration and written employment terms before the first day; monthly payroll with the Christmas and Easter bonuses and holiday allowance; e-EFKA contributions and tax withholding on the 2026 scale; working-time declarations and, in covered sectors, the digital work card; the statutory minimums for annual leave, sick pay, maternity, paternity and parental leave; and formally correct termination, notice, severance, and the four-day ERGANI II declaration. Timing matters as much as substance: an undeclared employee costs €10,500.

Employer e-EFKA contributions add 21.79% on gross salary up to the monthly ceiling of €7,761.94 (2026). On top of the twelve monthly salaries, budget for the Christmas bonus (one month), the Easter bonus (half a month), and the holiday allowance (half a month), all subject to contributions, so annual cost is roughly 14 salaries plus 21.79%.

Maternity leave is 17 weeks (eight before and nine after the birth), paid through e-EFKA, followed by up to nine months of DYPA-paid special maternity protection leave; dismissal is prohibited during pregnancy and for 18 months after birth. Fathers get 14 working days of paid paternity leave at the birth, and each parent has four months of parental leave to the child’s eighth birthday, the first two paid by DYPA at the minimum wage.

Yes, telework is statutorily recognised, but it must be agreed and documented: the employer covers equipment, telecom, and maintenance costs (statutory minimum amounts of up to €28 a month), gives written telework terms within eight days, respects the right to disconnect, cannot monitor performance by webcam, and declares telework hours in ERGANI II.