[author: Kremalis Law Firm]
The minimum wage in Greece has increased, effective from the beginning of this month. We take a look at the exact amount of the increase, together with its broader impact on the Greek employment system.
In the spirit of the key minimum wage provision in Greek law and taking into account the state of the Greek economy and its prospects for growth, the Ministry of Economy (Labour and Social Security) have increased the statutory minimum wage for 2025, 2026 and 2027, effective from 1 April 2025.
For full-time employees (also known as ‘white collar workers’ under Greek law), the minimum monthly wage is now set at EUR 880, while for ‘blue collar workers’, the minimum daily wage is set at EUR 39.30. This represents gross increases of EUR 50 for employees and EUR 2.23 for blue collar workers, which corresponds to a percentage increase of 6.02%.
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Impact on statutory allowances and benefits
The increase in the minimum wage has also resulted in the following adjustments to labour and social benefits:
- Unemployment benefit: increased from EUR 509 to EUR 540.
- Marriage allowance: increased from EUR 83 to EUR 88 (i.e. 10% of the monthly minimum wage).
- Special one-off allowance: unemployment benefits now EUR 37.50 per day.
- Maternity allowance: increased from EUR 7,470 to EUR 7,919.69 (for the entitlement period of nine months).
- Parental leave: increased from EUR 1,660 to EUR 1,759.90 (for the entitlement period of two months).
- Employer’s insolvency allowance: an amount up to three times the new monthly minimum wage.
The increase also applies to public sector employees. They will see an increase of EUR 30 to their statutory wages pursuant to the applicable salary scales.
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Impact on classification of managerial employees
Furthermore, the increase to the minimum salary impacts the classification criteria for managerial employees. Individuals are presumed to be managerial employees if they:
- are heads of directorates, units or departments or other independent organisational units of the company, specified in the organisation chart, and entrusted with the supervision of part of the substantial, continuous, intermittent or exceptional operations, receiving a monthly salary equal to at least four times the minimum statutory salary; or
- receive a monthly salary of at least six times the minimum statutory salary.
While this core criteria remains the same, the level of salary that individuals must earn to meet the criteria has increased following the introduction of the new minimum wage.
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Impact on social security obligations
Finally, the increase in the minimum wage marks an increase in the cost of buy-out of notional years from EUR 166 to EUR 176 per month. This is relevant for those who wish to proceed with the buy-out of years of insurance to meet their pension requirements.
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Takeaway for employers
The increase to the minimum wage has triggered important changes throughout the Greek employment system that employers need to be aware of and comply with.
