On this page
- Work authorisation and employment rights are separate checks
- Read the contract alongside the work you actually perform
- Compare the main employment situations
- Pay, payslips and unpaid wages
- Working hours, extra work and rest
- Annual leave, illness and family responsibilities
- Dismissal, resignation and a proposed settlement
- Discrimination, complaints and a practical evidence file
- Official sources and further help
- Frequently asked questions
- Official sources
Foreign employees in Greece need to check two connected questions: whether their documents authorise the particular job, and whether their employer respects Greek employment rights. A residence problem does not mean that wages already earned simply disappear. This guide explains how to examine your contract, pay, working hours, leave and termination, and how to prepare a useful complaint if something goes wrong.
The guide concerns ordinary private-sector employment. Public appointments, seafaring, regulated professions, international postings and genuine independent businesses may require a different analysis. Start with what actually happens at work: who gives instructions, controls the timetable, provides equipment and pays you. A document labelled “consultancy” does not resolve every question about the real relationship.
Work authorisation and employment rights are separate checks
For third-country nationals, inspect the exact residence permit, employment visa or other document relied upon for access to work. Lawful residence alone does not necessarily authorise every kind of employment. The Greek Ministry of Labour distinguishes documents that permit work from a simple electronic acknowledgement that an application has been submitted. Do not accept “your application is pending” as a complete explanation: ask which document permits you to start this job.
The ministry also confirms equal treatment in employment for legally resident third-country nationals and explains that irregularly employed migrants can pursue amounts owed and complain against their employers. These routes do not automatically resolve immigration status. If your papers have expired, obtain coordinated employment and immigration advice rather than accepting an employer’s claim that you have no rights. Keep copies of your own documents and avoid handing over your only originals.
Before changing employer or resigning, check any restrictions attached to your particular immigration route. Employer-sponsored, seasonal, family and protection-related situations should not be treated as interchangeable. Give the adviser the actual document, its expiry date and the intended new role. A promise from a recruiter is insufficient to establish that the change is permitted. The ministry’s foreign-worker guidance provides the starting point.
Read the contract alongside the work you actually perform
Ask for written employment terms and retain every version. Check the employer’s legal identity, work location, duties, start date, duration, pay components, payment arrangements, hours, leave, probation and applicable collective terms. A shop’s trading name can differ from the company employing its staff; identify the legal employer before a dispute begins. If an agency recruited you, establish who employs you and who manages the daily assignment.
Greek terms worth recognising are aoristou chronou, meaning indefinite duration, and orismenou chronou, meaning fixed duration. An indefinite contract has no agreed expiry date. A fixed-term contract normally identifies an end date or a defined project. Repeated renewals require examination of their purpose and circumstances; counting the documents alone does not safely determine the legal result.
Arrange a reliable explanation of Greek wording before signing. Compare any translation with the original, especially clauses about changing location, deductions, confidentiality, exclusivity and early departure. Request clarification of missing details in writing. Save the job advertisement and recruitment messages because they help show what was offered, although their legal effect still depends on the complete circumstances. The ministry’s employment-contract guidance explains the underlying categories and information duties.
Compare the main employment situations
| Situation | Main issue to check | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite employment | Termination procedure, service and any severance entitlement | Original start date, amendments, dismissal notice and payroll |
| Fixed-term employment | Agreed expiry versus an early termination | End date, project description and renewal history |
| Part-time or variable work | Declared schedule compared with hours actually worked | Written terms, rosters, attendance records and messages |
| Seasonal employment | Contract period, immigration conditions and accommodation terms | Employment documents, housing agreement and final account |
| Agency assignment | Identity of the employer and responsibility for the assignment | Agency contract, workplace instructions and payment records |
This comparison is a document checklist, not a conclusion that any category has fewer basic protections. For example, seasonal work does not make unpaid overtime acceptable. Conversely, the end of a genuine fixed-term contract should not automatically be treated as an ordinary indefinite-contract dismissal. Explain both the written arrangement and the actual work to the person reviewing your case.
Pay, payslips and unpaid wages
Compare gross contractual pay with the applicable legal or collective minimum for your classification, then examine deductions to reach net pay. The amount arriving in your bank account is only one part of that comparison. Ask payroll to identify ordinary earnings, additional hours, applicable supplements, bonuses, leave-related payments and each deduction. Keep the payslip and corresponding bank entry together.
Use a calculation that can be checked: remuneration due for the relevant period, plus applicable supplements and accrued benefits, minus lawful deductions and amounts already paid. Do not insert an old minimum-wage figure into every month of a claim. The applicable minimum and collective coverage must be checked for the period in question. Equally, accommodation or meals should not be casually treated as a substitute for the agreed cash salary.
Christmas and Easter bonuses and leave-related payments need separate attention in private-sector payroll. Entitlement and proportional calculation depend on the relevant employment period and circumstances. Compare the salary-payment guidance and holiday-bonus guidance with your documents. If wages are missing, prepare a dated schedule showing each amount due, payments received and the outstanding balance; mark disputed estimates clearly.
Working hours, extra work and rest
The ministry identifies a standard contractual working week of 40 hours. That starting point does not mean every hour above your usual schedule belongs to the same legal category. Extra work, overtime, part-time additional work, night work and work on rest days require the correct classification. Lawful arrangements that balance longer and shorter working periods also have conditions. A general statement that “the salary includes everything” is not a sufficient calculation.
Keep a practical diary recording start and finish times, actual breaks, workplace and the person who requested extra work. Preserve rosters and your own attendance records. Where you receive a revised timetable, keep both versions with dates. Record separately time spent waiting, travelling between assignments or responding remotely, so an adviser can decide which periods count as work.
Check the official working-time guidance against the arrangement used by your employer. Pay and rest are separate matters: an additional payment does not itself answer whether the schedule complies with rest requirements. Raise dangerous fatigue promptly and describe the concrete risk. Do not manufacture attendance evidence or copy unrelated customer files to support a claim.
Annual leave, illness and family responsibilities
Annual leave is a paid entitlement whose calculation depends on matters such as service and the working pattern. Request the employer’s calculation rather than assuming a colleague has the same allowance. Distinguish leave days, pay during leave and the separate leave allowance. When employment ends, ask how outstanding leave-related amounts have been included in the final account.
Send leave requests through a channel you can later retrieve and keep the response. A rejected holiday request and a complete refusal to recognise leave are different factual problems. If a manager changes approved dates, preserve the original approval and the later message. Avoid assuming that a disagreement authorises an unexplained absence.
Illness, maternity, paternity, parental responsibilities and care obligations can involve different entitlements, evidence and benefit procedures. Identify the type of absence and notify the employer appropriately. Keep medical information relevant to the request and ask which documents are needed. The ministry publishes separate guidance on employee leave; a single annual-leave balance does not describe every available form of protection.
Dismissal, resignation and a proposed settlement
For indefinite employment, review written termination, any severance due, insurance records and the distinction between dismissal with notice and immediate dismissal. The ministry explains that remuneration continues during notice even where the employer releases the employee from performing work. Severance requires its own calculation based on the relevant pay and service rules. It should not be confused with unpaid salary or leave-related sums.
Discriminatory dismissal, retaliation for exercising rights and breaches of special protection can raise distinct challenges. However, do not assume that every dismissal requires the employer to prove an ordinary “fair reason”, or that every paperwork defect automatically restores the job. Available remedies and opportunities to correct particular defects require individual assessment. For a fixed-term contract, separate agreed expiry from early termination and examine the stated reason.
Act immediately after receiving a dismissal or being excluded from work. The ministry identifies short exclusion periods for dismissal-related claims; ask a Greek lawyer to calculate the applicable deadline and required procedural act. Do not assume that discussions with management or an administrative complaint preserve a court claim. Before signing resignation or settlement papers, obtain an explanation of what each clause acknowledges, what money is offered and which claims it purports to resolve. See the official termination guidance.
Discrimination, complaints and a practical evidence file
Describe discriminatory treatment or harassment through specific events: what happened, when, who was present, what was said and what changed afterwards. Keep relevant messages and identify possible witnesses. The ministry’s equal-treatment guidance explains protection and enforcement routes. Distinguish unlawful treatment from an assumption that all differences between colleagues are unlawful; duties, experience and the surrounding facts matter.
The Labour Inspectorate’s labour-dispute procedure can address issues including unpaid earnings, leave, severance and discrimination. Its published procedure involves a meeting with the parties and an inspector, and allows translation support for a foreign participant. Prepare a concise chronology, an indexed set of documents and a clear request. The Labour Inspectorate procedure should be checked for the appropriate local department and submission arrangements.
A useful file contains your contract and amendments, payroll and bank evidence, work schedules, leave communications, immigration documents relevant to employment, and any termination or proposed settlement. Explain which documents are missing instead of filling gaps with guesses. Ask whether the immediate objective is payment, correction of records, safe continuation of work or a court remedy. A Greek employment lawyer can then assess deadlines, evidence, costs and the interaction with your residence position.
Official sources and further help
The linked Greek government and Labour Inspectorate pages were checked on 24 October 2026. They support the topics identified beside each link; specific calculations and procedures should be checked against the rules applicable to the employment period. This guide provides general information and does not determine an individual claim. For a document-based assessment, you can find a lawyer for your employment issue in Greece.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have the same employment rights as a Greek national?
In general, yes. If you work lawfully in Greece as an employee, the core protections of Greek labour law usually apply to you in the same way as to Greek nationals, and discrimination based on nationality or ethnic origin is prohibited. What matters is that your employment is on a proper legal footing, with valid work authorisation where required, registration with the labour authorities, and enrolment in social security. EU and EEA nationals generally do not need a separate work permit, while non-EU nationals usually do.
My contract is only in Greek. Should I sign it?
Ask for a translation before you sign. Employers are generally required to give you the essential terms of the job in writing, and you should understand the contract type, salary, hours, notice periods, probation and any collective agreement that applies. Watch for clauses on probation, non-competition and penalties for leaving early, since some are limited or unenforceable under Greek law but are still better understood in advance.
Can my employer dismiss me without notice or compensation?
Usually not for an open-ended contract. A dismissal generally has to be in written form, the employer must pay any statutory severance that is due, and the social-security authorities must be notified. A dismissal that ignores these formalities can be challenged as invalid, so be cautious about anything communicated only verbally. Severance generally depends on your category of work and length of service, and the current rules are worth confirming rather than relying on an old figure.
I think my rights were breached. How quickly do I need to act?
Quickly. The deadlines to contest a dismissal or claim unpaid sums in Greece are typically short and start running fast, and missing the window may mean losing the chance to recover what you are owed. Gather your contract, payslips, the written termination and any warnings, put complaints in writing, and get advice early from a lawyer, a trade union or an advice centre. The Labour Inspectorate also oversees compliance and can intervene in certain disputes.
If I lose my job, does that affect my right to stay in Greece?
It can. For non-EU nationals especially, your right to remain in Greece can be linked to your job, so losing or changing employment can have immigration consequences. Before you resign or accept a termination, understand how it might affect your residence status, because the employment and immigration questions are often connected. It is worth factoring this in alongside any employment claim.
Official sources
Rules, fees and thresholds change. Confirm anything in this guide with the official source before you act.
- AADEtax authority
- Ministry of Migration and Asylumimmigration authority
- Athens Bar Associationbar association — verify a lawyer
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