Hiring Your First Employee in Greece: The 2026 Checklist

Short answer: Before your first employee starts work, you need an employer number with EFKA and you must declare the hire on ERGANI II, the Ministry of Labour’s online system. Someone on the minimum wage of €920 a month costs you about €1,120 a month, and they are paid 14 times a year, so roughly €15,700 a year in total. After that, every month you file and pay social security contributions and payroll tax.

This guide is for sole traders, freelancers and small company (IKE) owners in Greece who are hiring for the first time. Greek employment law is strict on timing, and most of the fines come from doing the right thing a day too late.

1. Before you hire: become an employer

Get an employer number (ΑΜΕ) from EFKA. This is your registration in the social security employers’ register.

• Sole traders register online with e-EFKA’s employer registration service, using their TAXISnet login. If the online service fails, the local EFKA office does it.¹
• Companies (IKE, OE and others) are registered automatically once they have a GEMI number and an AFM. GEMI tells you the number.²

Decide who runs payroll. Every month there are two filings and two payments (sections 5 and 6). Most small businesses give this to their accountant, who you can authorise to file for you.³

2. What your employee brings you

• AFM (Greek tax number)
• AMKA (social security number)
• ID card or passport
• IBAN for a Greek bank account. Wages in the private sector must be paid through a bank, not in cash.⁴

If you are hiring someone from outside the EU, they must hold a Greek residence permit or national visa that allows work. While a permit application is pending, they need the “Blue Certificate”; the application receipt alone is not enough. Employing someone without that right costs €1,500 per worker in fines, and €5,000 if they are in Greece illegally.⁵ For new arrivals without an AFM or AMKA yet, our AFM guide explains how they get one.

3. Before day one: the hiring announcement

This is the step people get wrong.

You must declare the hire on ERGANI II before the employee starts work. Not on the same afternoon, not at the end of the week. Before the first minute.⁶ Since 16 February 2026, ERGANI II has replaced the old ERGANI system, and the hiring announcement replaced the old E3 form.⁷

The announcement includes the basic terms of the job. Your employee then accepts them: by signing, through gov.gr, or in the MyErgani app.⁶ ERGANI II also offers a contract template, and a contract made there counts as a written contract.⁸

Written terms. If you do not use the ERGANI II contract, you must still give the main terms in writing:⁹

• Within 1 week of the start: who the parties are, place of work, job, start date (and end date if fixed term), probation, pay and working hours.
• Within 1 month: the rest, such as training, leave, how the job can be ended, the collective agreement and the social security fund.

Probation. An open ended contract can have a probation period of up to 6 months. For fixed term contracts it is shorter: at most a quarter of the contract, and never more than 6 months.¹⁰

4. Pay: minimum wage and the 14 salaries

From 1 April 2026 the national minimum wage is €920 a month for salaried staff and €41.09 a day for daily paid workers. It is the same at every age.¹¹ A collective agreement for your sector may set more.

Greek employees are paid 14 salaries a year:¹²

Payment	Amount	Paid by
12 monthly salaries	1 month each	Each month
Christmas bonus	1 month	21 December
Easter bonus	Half a month	Holy Wednesday
Holiday allowance	Up to half a month	With the annual leave

The bonuses are reduced in proportion if someone joins part way through the period. You also give a payslip with every payment.⁴

5. Social security contributions (EFKA)

For most private sector employees the contribution rates are:¹³

Who pays	Rate on gross pay
Employer	21.79%
Employee (deducted from pay)	13.37%
Total	35.16%

There is also a small employer charge of €20 per employee a year, collected with the August contributions.¹⁴

Every month you file the contributions return (ΑΠΔ) on e-EFKA and pay the contributions. Both are due by the last working day of the month after the month worked. So September’s pay is declared and paid by the end of October.¹⁵

6. Payroll tax (ΦΜΥ)

You deduct income tax from each salary and pay it to AADE. The withholding return is filed every month, even if no tax was withheld. The tax is paid by the end of the second month after the salary was paid.¹⁶

At minimum wage the income tax is small, because of the 9% first band and the employee tax reduction. From 2026, employees under 26 pay no income tax on their first €20,000.¹⁷

7. What an employee really costs

At the minimum wage, full time, from 1 April 2026:

	Per month	Per year (14 payments)
Gross salary	€920.00	€12,880.00
Employer contributions (21.79%)	€200.47	€2,806.55
Children’s camps charge		€20.00
Total cost to you	€1,120.47	€15,706.55
Employee’s pay after their 13.37%, before income tax	€797.00	€11,158.00

A simple rule of thumb: the yearly cost is about 17 times the monthly gross salary (14 salaries plus about 22% on top).

8. The digital work card

The digital work card records when each employee starts and stops work, in real time, on ERGANI II. Whether you need it depends on your business activity code (ΚΑΔ), not on your size.¹⁸

It already covers retail, tourism and food service, industry, and many other sectors. In 2026 it is being extended:¹⁹

• From 12 October 2026: health services, telecoms, hairdressers and beauty salons, dry cleaners, and building and cleaning services.
• From 16 November 2026: consulting, advertising and other office activities, repairs, warehousing and logistics, and more.

The second group catches many small office businesses run by freelancers and IKE owners. The fine for an employee whose card is not used is €10,500 per employee.¹⁸ Check your activity code before your first hire.

9. Part time staff

A part time hire is declared on ERGANI II before the first day, like any hire. The part time agreement itself must be in writing and filed within 8 days of being agreed, for example when a full time job becomes part time. If it is not, the job is treated as full time, with full time pay.²⁰ Any change to hours, and any overtime, must be entered on ERGANI II before it happens, unless your business uses the digital work card.²¹

10. Health and safety

Every employer, even with one employee, must have a safety technician. In lower risk businesses with fewer than 50 employees, you can do this yourself after a short training course.²² An occupational doctor is only needed from 50 employees, or earlier if the work involves hazardous substances.²³

11. Is there a subsidy?

Sometimes. The public employment service (DYPA) runs hiring programmes for specific groups. For example, a 2026 programme pays salary and contributions in full for 12 months, up to €1,118 a month per employee, when you hire someone receiving the Minimum Guaranteed Income.²⁴ Programmes open and close through the year, and you usually have to apply before the hire.

Common mistakes

1. Declaring the hire after the person starts. It must be before the first day.
2. A “trial day” without a declaration. There is no such thing. A trial day is a day of work.
3. Forgetting the 14 salaries in the budget. Plan on 14, not 12.
4. Missing the digital work card start date for your sector.
5. Paying in cash. Wages go through the bank.
6. No safety technician. It applies from the first employee.

Want help with the setup?

We work through the first hire with you in English: what to register, which costs to plan for, and what changes for your own tax and bookkeeping. The registrations and monthly payroll are handled by a licensed accountant.

Book a free consultation →

Frequently asked questions

Can I hire someone as a freelancer instead? Only if they really work as independent freelancers: their own hours, their own clients, their own tools. If they work like an employee, the labour inspectorate and EFKA can treat them as one, with back contributions and fines.

Does my employee need a Greek bank account? They need an account where you can pay their wages through the bank. A Greek account is the practical choice.

How long do I have to give written terms? The core terms within 1 week and the rest within 1 month. The ERGANI II declaration itself must be made before they start.

Can I end the job during probation? Yes. If the probation period does not work out, the contract ends without notice or severance.¹⁰

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This article is for general information only and does not constitute tax, legal or employment advice. It reflects Greek law and official sources as of October 2026. Rules change; check your own case before acting.

Footnotes

1. e-EFKA, registering an individual in the employers’ register. ↩

2. e-EFKA, employers’ register FAQ. ↩

3. e-EFKA, employer authentication for online services. ↩

4. Labour Code, Presidential Decree 62/2025, ΦΕΚ Α’ 121/11.07.2025, Articles 153 and 154. Official text. ↩ ↩²

5. Ministry of Labour, work for third country nationals in Greece. ↩

6. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Article 578(1); gov.gr, hiring announcement on ERGANI. ↩ ↩²

7. Ministry of Labour, ERGANI II in production from 16 February 2026. ↩

8. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Articles 577(3) and 578(3). ↩

9. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Articles 73 and 75. ↩

10. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Article 2; Labour Inspectorate, probationary period. ↩ ↩²

11. Ministry of Labour, new minimum wage in force from 1 April 2026; Joint Ministerial Decision 8934/27.03.2026, ΦΕΚ Β’ 1759, cited in e-EFKA circular 12/2026. ↩

12. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Articles 142, 143 and 223. ↩

13. e-EFKA circular 38/24.12.2024, Table 1 (insurance package code 101), in force from 1 January 2025. ↩

14. e-EFKA general document 2338673/01.09.2026. ↩

15. e-EFKA, employers: filing and payment deadlines. ↩

16. AADE, withholding tax returns; AADE FAQ on withholding returns. ↩

17. Ministry of Economy and Finance, income taxation. ↩

18. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Article 580; Digital work card FAQ (psifiakikarta.gov.gr). ↩ ↩²

19. Ministry of Labour, 23 September 2026; Ministry of Labour, 12 October 2026. ↩

20. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Article 113. ↩

21. Labour Code (PD 62/2025), Article 581. ↩

22. Law 3850/2010; Labour Inspectorate, safety technician; Ministry of Labour, health and safety FAQ. ↩

23. Labour Inspectorate, occupational doctor. ↩

24. DYPA, 100% wage and contribution subsidy for 12 months. ↩