Payroll in Greece: a restricted activity

Greece has moved within a decade from a fragmented social administration to a centralised digital one. The occupational funds have merged into e-ΕΦΚΑ (the single national social security institution), and most employer obligations now pass through the labour ministry's ΕΡΓΑΝΗ information system. For a foreign company, this means that almost everything leaves a time-stamped trace.

The country belongs to the European Union and the eurozone: payroll is denominated in euros and the European regulations govern postings and the aggregation of insurance periods. Contracts and payslips are drafted in Greek, the language in which returns are also filed.

Payroll in Greece finally rests on a regulated profession. Practising as a λογιστής-φοροτεχνικός (accountant and tax practitioner) requires a professional card issued by the Οικονομικό Επιμελητήριο Ελλάδος (ΟΕΕ, the Economic Chamber of Greece), in class Α΄ or Β΄ according to qualification and experience, with the class determining the size of client the holder may take on.

The written contract and every event in the employment relationship are declared through ΕΡΓΑΝΗ: hiring, working hours, changes in work organisation, overtime, leave and departure. Notification before the employee starts work is mandatory.

An ΑΦΜ tax number is obtained from the ΑΑΔΕ (the independent public revenue authority) and an employer number from e-ΕΦΚΑ. On the employee side, the individual social security number, the ΑΜΚΑ, must exist before hiring: without it no filing is possible.

There remains the question whether the planned activity creates an establishment in Greece. A local entity is the clearest route; failing that, a foreign company may register as an employer, but it will need someone able to act inside the Greek portals, since nothing can otherwise be filed.

Payslips are issued monthly, salary tax is withheld at source and later reconciled, and the analytical periodic return, the ΑΠΔ, reports each insured person's pay and contributions to e-ΕΦΚΑ. Wages are paid by bank transfer, the channel Greek rules require in the private sector and one worth confirming for each engagement. Recruiting a foreign national further requires a residence status carrying the right to work, secured before the start date.

On exit, the ΕΡΓΑΝΗ notification, statutory severance and the accrued leave balance form a set to be prepared together rather than in sequence.

ΕΡΓΑΝΗ is not merely an online filing service; it is a continuous declaration of how work is organised. A change of hours not declared before it takes effect is itself an irregularity, whatever its merits. The rollout of the digital work card, which records employees' actual arrival and departure in the sectors covered, extends that logic all the way to time recording.

Seasonal pay is the second item to know. The Easter and Christmas bonuses, together with the holiday allowance, are statutory components of remuneration and must be provisioned as such rather than treated as discretionary.

The validity period of the tax and social certificates is printed on the document itself and shortens where a debt is being paid in instalments. Read the wording on the certificate rather than applying a uniform rule of thumb.