Greece is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy, and high quality of life, ranking simultaneously very high in the Human Development Index. Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector, and geostrategic importance classify it as a middle power. The other major industries that contribute to the economy's GDP include agriculture, energy, maritime industry, transport, telecommunications, and science and technology.
More information on the universities in Greece can be found on Webometrics.
The average salary in Greece is 2,430 EUR with the lowest average being 620 EUR and 10,900 EUR being the highest average. The average salary of an employee tends to change based on location, industry, and profession. More information about average salaries in Greece can be found here.
Employers contribute 24.33% of the employee’s income towards their social security security contribution.
Employees contribute 15.33% of their income towards social security contribution.
The minimum wage in Greece is EUR 758 per month.
The payroll cycle followed is monthly.
13th month salary
Employees are entitled to not only a 13th and 14th month bonus but also entitled to holiday bonus.
Employee stock option
There is no provision in Greece for employers to provide Employee stock options (ESOPs), and hence, not mandatory in Greece. ESOPs can be provided by employers if agreed upon through a written employment agreement as a part of employee compensation.
The working hours are usually limited to a 40 hrs week over a 5 days work week. Working hours usually begin at 8 am or 9 am and employees usually spend an average of 42 hours per week at work.
Employees are paid for overtime at the rate of 1.4 times their normal hourly rate for upto 120 hrs of overtime a year. Beyond 120 hrs, employees are paid 1.6 times their normal hourly rate.
The list of public holidays in Greece can be found here.
Employees are entitled to a vacation of 4 weeks given they have worked under the same employer for 12 months or more. Employees taking a vacation leave are entitled to their salary at 50% their normal salary.
The employer is obliged to compensate the employees at 50% of their wages for the first 3 days. Employees are entitled to compensation thereafter from social insurance.
Female employees are to 17 weeks of maternity leave out of which the employer is entitled to pay for 15 days in case the employee has not completed 1 year of employment and 1 month in case the employee is there for more than 1 year.
A male employee is entitled to 2 days of paid leave for the birth of his child. In addition to this, they are also entitled to reduced working hours without any paycut.
The employer can terminate the employment contract either by giving a notice or making a payment in lieu of notice. The employee can also terminate the contract by giving a notice to the employer.
The employee may only be dismissed after giving a written notice. In the event of an employee’s work ethic being deemed unacceptable, the employee may be dismissed without a notice period.
Incase the contract is silent about the notice period, the following is followed:
In Greece the severance pay of an employee depends on his term of employment. The severance pay is given even after giving a notice period and is as follows:
Employment agreements without a definite end date have a 12 month probation period.
Providing health insurance in Greece is mandatory. Statutory contributions in such cases works in two parts that include:
These are statutory costs that must be made by the employer and the employee on a monthly basis. The social security and healthcare contributions must be granted on an employee's salary, and must be withheld to be paid by the employer every month.
The standard VAT rate in Greece is 24%.