Greece: Operating a Business

Enterprises Federation

Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

Search a Company or a Financial Report

Athens Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Business Setup Procedures

For Further Information

Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Greece.
Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The Competent Organization

Upon establishment, the company is required to register with the Tax Office and procure accounting and company books stamped by the Tax Authorities and also to register with the Local Chamber of Commerce. Consult The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Recovery Procedures

Bankruptcy Laws

Commercial and bankruptcy laws in Greece are in accordance with international norms. Under Greek bankruptcy law, private creditors receive compensation after claims from the state and insurance funds have been satisfied. Monetary judgments are usually made in the country’s currency (Euro) unless explicitly stipulated otherwise.

For Further Statistics

Invest in Greece

Opening Hours

 

• Legal Weekly Duration

8-hour day and 48-hour week.

• Maximum Duration

In companies where a contractual working week of up to 40 hours is implemented, employees may work an extra five hours per week at the employer’s discretion (overtime). These hours of overtime (from the 41st to the 45th hour) are compensated at the current hourly wage, increased by 25%, and are not calculated as part of the maximum overtime work allowed by current provisions. For employees who work a six-day working week, the above-described overtime is eight hours per week (from the 41st to the 48th hour).

• Night Hours

Night work is prohibited for certain categories of employee: women workers and minors. There are numerous exemptions from the general ban mentioned above, as permitted by Article 4 of the ILO Convention. It does not apply to women who occupy positions of responsibility or senior posts of a technical nature, to nurses or to women employed in allied occupations. When employees are doing night work they are entitled to an enhanced rate of pay equal to 25 per cent. above the normal pay.

Working Rest Day

Sunday

Paid Annual Vacation

Greek law stipulates a (minimum) annual holiday entitlement of 24 working days for employees who work a six-day week and 20 working days for employees who work a five-day week, once they have completed the basic "waiting" time (qualifying period of employment).

Retirement Age

65

Child Labor and Minimum Age For Employment

In Greece, under the relatively recent Law 1837/1989 on the protection of minors in employment the minimum age for entry into employment is 15: minors of any age who have not yet attained this minimum are prohibited from being employed.

Informal Labor Market

Very widespread in Greece, they account for possibly 25 per cent. of the gross national product. Their main feature is that they evade all control by the authorities, taxation obligations and social charges (social insurance, health and safety conditions and employees' holiday entitlements).

Pay

Minimum Wage

668 EUR

Average Wage

EUR 750. For more information, visit the "Invest in Greece" website.

Other Forms of Pay

• Pay For Overtime

Whether by consent or unilaterally imposed, overtime attracts extra pay in respect of the hours of overtime worked.

• Pay For Rest Days Worked

Employees who have worked on a Sunday or public holiday are entitled to their statutory minimum or contractual day's pay plus 75 per cent. of the statutory day's pay. They are entitled to this increased rate even if they take time off in lieu during the week, and regardless of whether their employment on a Sunday or public holiday was lawful or unlawful.

Social Security Costs

The Areas Covered

In Greece, the system of social insurance is a mixed one, in that it also contains elements of social security (such as pensions for the elderly). The correlation between the sums contributed and the benefits paid out, which is the characteristic feature of social insurance, is gradually disappearing. The system is notable for the wide array of insurance institutions which exist (some 385 of them), and the resultant lack of uniformity as regards both the criteria determining entitlement and the actual level of protective benefits.

Contributions

Contributions Paid By the Employer: Public social security as % of monthly salary: 44.06%.
By the employer: 28.06%
By the employee: 16.00%
Contributions Paid By the Employee: For institutions which insure employees, the cost of contributions is borne by both employees and employers; there are no standard rules on how this is shared between them, but with IKA the employer usually pays two thirds and the employee one third.

Recruitment

Method of Recruitment

Agencies, Internet and face to face interview.

Recruitment Agencies

In Greece, job placements fall exclusively within the competence of the Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED). Consequently, private employment agencies are illegal for the time being, but this prohibition is under review since it is not in accordance with the relevant articles of the European Union.

Recruitment Websites

Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED)

The Contract

Dispute Settlement

Social Partners

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners

Visit the website of the European foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions.

Unionization Rate

In Greece, it is calculated that around one in three workers is a union member, i.e. overall union density is approximately 30 per cent. Unionization is very high in public sector enterprises and public utilities and services (see public enterprise ): it ranges from 80 to 98 per cent. In the private sector it is very low, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Unions

GSEE