Greece EOR: Hire Without a Local Entity in October 2026

Between the 13th and 14th salary, e-EFKA contributions, and tenure-based notice periods, Greek labor law asks for more than most founders expect when they plan a first hire. You don’t have to learn all of it yourself. An employer of record in Greece takes on those obligations directly, so we’re breaking down what that looks like and how it compares to setting up your own entity.

TLDR:

• An EOR hires Greek workers on your behalf, skipping entity setup entirely.
• Greek employers owe 13th/14th salary bonuses plus ~21.79% (OECD, 2026) e-EFKA contributions.
• Notice periods run 1 month at 1-4 years' tenure up to 4 months at 10+ years.
• Entity setup costs stay fixed regardless of hire count; EOR fees scale per person.
• Bolto positions itself as an EOR for Greece, handling contracts, payroll, and e-EFKA filings.

What Is an Employer of Record in Greece

An Employer of Record (EOR) in Greece is a locally licensed legal employer that hires Greek workers on your behalf, so you can build a team there without registering a Greek branch or subsidiary. The EOR appears on the employment contract and payroll records as the legal employer, handles filings with e-EFKA, the national social security fund, and registers the employment relationship with Ergani, the national labor registry. You keep control of the actual work: setting goals, directing projects, and managing performance day to day.

Greek entity registration generally takes weeks and involves tax authority filings, local bank setup, and ongoing corporate compliance that outlasts a single hire. An EOR sidesteps that timeline entirely.

Companies generally turn to this structure when:

• Testing the Greek market before committing to a permanent legal presence
• Hiring one specialist or a small team, where entity setup costs would outweigh the benefit
• Needing someone onboarded quickly, without waiting on registration paperwork

In each case, the employer of record services carry the legal and administrative weight of Greek employment law, while you stay focused on running the work itself.

Employment Laws and Compliance Requirements in Greece

Under Greek labor law, employers generally take on obligations that go beyond base salary. Employees typically receive a 13th salary as a Christmas bonus, plus a 14th salary split between an Easter allowance and a summer holiday allowance. Employers also contribute around 21.79% (OECD, 2026) of gross salary to e-EFKA, Greece’s unified social security fund, up to the monthly contribution cap, with employees contributing separately from their own pay.

Notice periods in Greece generally scale with tenure, starting at 1 month for one to four years of service and rising to 4 months at ten or more years. Severance typically applies after 12 months of continuous employment, and doubles if the notice period is skipped. Probation periods allow more flexible termination terms during the initial months of employment, though specifics can vary by contract and industry.

These rules shift over time and can depend on contract type, sector, and individual circumstances. Working through an EOR means the EOR handles these calculations, filings, and deadlines on the employer’s behalf.

Misclassifying a Greek worker or missing one of these obligations can create real exposure, which is worth understanding before you hire (see our guide to misclassification risk). This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by situation and change over time, so consult a qualified employment lawyer for your specific circumstances.

What Bolto’s EOR Service Covers in Greece

When you hire in Greece through Bolto, we become the legal employer on paper and handle everything that comes with it. That starts with a compliant Greek employment contract covering role, compensation, and statutory terms, and extends into monthly payroll processed in euros, on time, every cycle.

Statutory obligations get folded into the payroll run automatically: e-EFKA social security contributions, the 13th and 14th salary payments, and paid leave tracking. Bolto also files taxes with Greek authorities directly, so you are not chasing deadlines across an unfamiliar filing calendar. As Greek labor rules change over time, Bolto monitors those changes and adjusts contracts and payroll practices accordingly, instead of leaving you to catch a rule change after the fact.

None of this requires you to open a Greek entity. Where entity registration in Greece can take weeks, onboarding through Bolto EOR can happen in days, part of a broader benchmark: Bolto’s EOR onboards 80% faster than traditional global hiring, across coverage in 180+ countries. Greece becomes one market inside a larger system built for EOR international global hiring, so hiring your first person in Athens works the same way as hiring your fiftieth person somewhere else entirely.

Cost of Hiring in Greece with an EOR vs. a Local Entity

Setting up a Greek entity means registering with the General Commercial Registry (GEMI), enrolling with the tax authority AADE, and registering as an employer with e-EFKA before anyone can go on payroll. Add local accounting support, legal counsel for compliant contracts, and compliance staff time, and the overhead builds before you hire anyone.

That overhead does not shrink for a small hire. Whether you bring on one person or five, entity formation costs, registry fees, and retainers stay largely the same. An EOR changes that math: costs scale per employee, so hiring one person in Greece costs roughly what one hire costs, without the weight of a branch you barely use.

Bolto’s EOR delivers up to 70% lower total cost than setting up and maintaining a local legal entity, with onboarding in as little as 48 hours against the multi-week timelines typical of entity setup. For a comparison of best EOR companies for global hiring, see our full guide.

For a fuller breakdown of when each path makes sense beyond Greece, see our comparison of EOR and entity setup.

How Bolto Hires and Pays Employees in Greece

Hiring in Greece with Bolto starts wherever you already are in the process. If you have a candidate lined up, you bring them straight into the workflow. If you don’t, Bolto Talent’s local recruiter network at hire.bolto.com can source Greek candidates for you.

Once you choose someone to hire, Bolto drafts a Greek compliant employment contract covering salary, statutory benefits, and the 13th and 14th salary payments required under Greek labor practice. Startups weighing their options can also review our guide on the best EOR for startups. There is no local entity to register and no waiting on Greek bureaucracy to get someone under contract.

Payroll then runs monthly in euros, with e-EFKA contributions, statutory bonuses, and benefits calculated and paid each cycle. Time off tracking and HR documentation live in the same place, so nothing sits in a spreadsheet waiting to be pieced together.

You keep directing the actual work: setting goals, managing performance, running the team day to day. Bolto stays the legal employer of record on paper, handling the contract, the payroll, and the compliance obligations that come with hiring someone in Greece.

For a broader look at how this same process plays out across other countries, see our global payroll guide, or visit our Greece EOR page for country-specific details.

Recruiting Talent in Greece with Bolto

Not every company hiring in Greece starts with a candidate already picked out. For those still searching, Bolto Talent at hire.bolto.com connects you to a curated network of local recruiters who know the Greek job market, its salary norms, and where the right candidates actually look for work.

That network is deliberately narrow. Only the top 5 to 10% of recruiters get in, and each submission goes through AI-assisted screening of resumes, portfolios, and relevant online work, backed by background checks before a name ever reaches you. The result is a first candidate shortlist in an average of 72 hours, instead of weeks of posting jobs and sorting through unqualified applicants yourself.

Recruiting through Bolto is an optional layer on top of the EOR service in Greece, not a requirement. If you already have someone in mind, you can skip straight to onboarding through the EOR process. Once someone is chosen, whether sourced through Bolto or brought in on your own, the path into Greek employment runs through the same EOR process, so sourcing, hiring, and paying a Greek employee all happen without leaving the platform.

EOR vs. Local Entity in Greece: Which Is Right for You

Choosing between an EOR and a local entity in Greece generally comes down to timing and commitment, beyond cost alone. An EOR gets a Greek hire onboarded fast, with the EOR handling e-EFKA contributions, the 13th and 14th salary payments, and notice periods, though you give up some control over benefits customization and equity design along the way. A local entity gives you full control over compensation structure and equity, and it can cost less per employee once you’ve scaled past a handful of hires, but it also means absorbing GEMI registration, AADE tax setup, and the ongoing compliance overhead that comes with running a Greek subsidiary. Here’s how that tradeoff plays out in practice.

The right choice generally comes down to how committed you are to the Greek market and how many people you plan to hire there.

If you’re testing demand with one or two roles, need someone onboarded quickly, or aren’t ready to commit to a long-term legal presence, an EOR lets you skip GEMI registration, AADE tax setup, and e-EFKA employer enrollment while still paying your team on time and in compliance with Greek labor rules.

If you’re planning to scale a larger team in Greece, want full control over equity and benefits design, or expect Greece to become a permanent base for the business, a local entity can make more sense once you’ve absorbed the setup timeline and ongoing compliance overhead that comes with it.

Many companies start with an EOR to get a first hire started fast, then revisit the entity decision later as headcount and long-term commitment grow. The two approaches aren’t mutually exclusive: an EOR can serve as the on-ramp that buys time to make the entity decision without pressure to get it right on day one.

Final Thoughts on Hiring Employees in Greece

Greek labor rules cover a lot of ground, from seasonal bonus pay to social security rates and severance tied to service length. An EOR handles that ground for you, so your Greek hire gets paid correctly and on time without you tracking every filing deadline yourself. You keep directing the work while the legal and payroll side runs quietly in the background. If you want to talk through what hiring in Greece could look like for your team, book a call with Bolto.

FAQ

Do I need a Greek entity to hire an employee in Greece?

No. An Employer of Record (EOR) lets you hire in Greece without registering a Greek branch or subsidiary, since the EOR acts as the legal employer on paper while you direct the day-to-day work. Bolto’s EOR can onboard a new hire in Greece in as little as 48 hours, compared to the weeks typically needed for entity registration with GEMI, AADE, and e-EFKA.

Bolto EOR vs. setting up a local entity in Greece, which costs less for one hire?

For a single hire, an EOR is almost always cheaper because entity formation costs, registry fees, and legal retainers stay fixed regardless of headcount, with fees scaling per employee instead of carrying the overhead of a branch you barely use. Bolto’s EOR delivers up to 70% lower total cost than setting up and maintaining a Greek legal entity, since fees scale per employee instead of carrying the overhead of a branch you barely use.

What are the mandatory pay obligations for employees in Greece?

Greek employees generally receive a 13th salary as a Christmas bonus and a 14th salary split between Easter and summer holiday allowances, on top of base pay. Employers also generally contribute around 21.79% (OECD, 2026) of gross salary to e-EFKA, Greece’s unified social security fund, up to the monthly contribution cap. This is general information; rules can vary by contract and change over time.

Can I recruit and hire a Greek employee without using a separate staffing agency?

Yes. Bolto Talent’s local recruiter network at hire.bolto.com can source Greek candidates directly, and once someone is selected, hiring flows into the same EOR process for contracting, payroll, and compliance. Recruiting is optional though; if you already have a candidate, you can go straight to onboarding through the EOR.

How long does severance and notice work if I need to end employment in Greece?

Notice periods generally scale with tenure, starting at 1 month for one to four years of service and rising to 4 months at ten or more years, and severance generally applies after 12 months of continuous employment. Skipping the notice period generally doubles the severance owed; this is general information, not legal advice, so consult a qualified employment lawyer for your specific circumstances.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Laws change frequently and vary by jurisdiction. Consult a qualified attorney or licensed advisor before making decisions based on this content.