Greece - living and working conditions
1. How to find a job
The Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED is the main player in the field of employment. It has employment promotion centres and personnel throughout Greece to which unemployed people can go to find employment and receive guidance, and also operates active employment, self-employment and retraining programmes to improve the qualifications of unemployed people.
At the OAED there are also Greek EURES (European Employment Services) advisers who speak foreign languages and are specially trained. Their job is to help unemployed people find work in an EU country and to fill the job vacancies made available by employers in the European area. They also provide information and are an intermediary between the unemployed and employers in the framework of the European Employment Network.
You can place your details on the EURES website, so that they are available to employers (see links).
Unemployed people can also be placed in the labour market by private employment agencies which are authorised by the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection and mediate in finding employment for people in certain professions, in particular for performing artists, supervisors, managers and occupants of positions of trust, accountants and tax experts, cleaners, construction workers, technicians, guides, models, private nurses, staff to look after old people and residential care staff. In addition, the temporary employment agencies find temporary employment for their salaried people with other employers.
For office workers and intermediate-level jobs, in particular, the newspapers are important sources of information. Advertisements for managerial and specialist staff are usually both in Greek and English.
You will find small advertisement papers and newspapers with employment pull-outs at the kiosks.
Some universities organise an annual careers seminar for graduates, at which jobseekers can establish contact with interested employers.
You can also ask friends and acquaintances whether they know of an employer who is looking for staff.
If you can, search the websites of companies that you would be interested in working for. There may be staff recruitment announcements.
2. How to apply for a job
When applying for a job it is necessary to attach a CV, which must be typed, short, take up two or three pages and provide a clear description of your educational and professional experience.
The content of the CV should depend on the job being sought and the specifications set out by the prospective employer.
The CV should include personal information, such as your name, address, telephone number, email address and nationality, state the subjects studies and provide details of professional experience, with the titles of previous jobs, the particulars of the employers, the length of the employment and the duties carried out. Mention all the skills and knowledge acquired in various fields.
Knowledge of foreign languages should also be mentioned, with information about the level of knowledge and the qualifications obtained.
The title and duration of any seminars attended should be stated, with mention of the seminar body.
Knowledge of computers and other specialised knowledge can also be stated, as well as personal interests which assist the application and say something about your personality.
Two or three addresses of former teachers or employers, with their particulars so that the prospective employer can contact them, can be given at the end of the CV.
Accompanying letter
The CV should be accompanied by a typed letter of no more than one page linking the applicant's professional and educational qualifications with the job. You should sign the letter.
Many Greek companies use application forms to replace the CV. These forms are long and detailed.
Research the market and find companies you would like to work for. Send them your CV, or deliver the CV in person and ask to see the competent person of the company. State the reasons why you think that you are a suitable candidate. Email can be an easy way of making contact.
3. Registration procedures and residence permits
As an EU/EEA citizen, you can enter Greece simply by showing a valid identity car or passport. There is no entry visa requirement.
Immigration officials must not:
* stamp your identity documents when you arrive and enter the national territory;
* request you to prove your financial means;
* ask you to state your reasons for travelling.
Workers in the EU/EEA have the right of establishment throughout the European Union / European Economic Area. EU/EEA citizens may enter Greece to seek employment and stay for six months (three months and a further three months if they are looking for work).
Form E 303 gives an unemployed person who is looking for work entitlement to unemployment benefit for three months. Another ‘E’ form is required for social insurance. Those administrative documents are provided by the country of origin.
If you wish to stay in the country for more than three months, you must report to the police station of the area in which you are residing. The residence permit confirms your right to stay in the country as an employed person with EU/EEA nationality. You must have employment or possess sufficient resources for staying in Greece.
If those conditions are met, a residence permit is issued for five years and may be renewed.
Each resident is given a personal registration number (AFM) for dealings with the tax authorities and another registration number for the social insurance services.
Citizens of Member States of the EU/EEA can enter Greece freely and work without a special permit. EU citizens are given a residence permit for the pursuit of paid employment when they present a statement of engagement from an employer.
If you are a dependent family member of an employed EU/EEA citizen, you enjoy the same rights as that person.
Residence permit allowing residence in Greece by an EU/EEA citizen.
Competent service: the competent police station.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
The document used by the applicant to enter Greece.
Evidence that both the applicant and his or her family members have health insurance and sufficient funds.
Three (3) photographs.
4. Working time
The usual lawful weekly working time is 40 hours. Under the new labour law, Law 3385/05, maximum daily working time is fixed at 10 hours, the overtime system is fixed and overtime remuneration is restricted.
At undertakings in which the contractual weekly working week of 40 hours is applied, the employee may work five additional hours a week at the employer's discretion. Those hours (the 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th) are treated as extra work with a payment rate 25% higher than the normal hourly rate and are not counted as part of the permissible overtime.
Work additional to the 45 weekly hours is treated as overtime. The payment for lawful overtime of up to 120 hours per year is 50% above the standard rate and can be done after special authorisation. Lawful overtime in excess of 120 hours is remunerated at 75% above the standard rate. In addition, employees may work two hours more per day in periods of increased work and work two hours fewer per day in other periods or take the time cumulatively as rest day.
The maximum weekly working time of employed persons cannot exceed more than 48 hours on average in, at the most, a period of four months, including overtime. Periods of annual paid leave and periods of leave and sickness are not counted or are treated as neutral in the calculation of the average.
Minimum rest time in any 24-hour period cannot be less than twelve continuous hours. When daily working time exceeds six hours, a break of at least 15 minutes must be given, during which the employee must be allowed to leave his work post.
Employees are entitled to a minimum continuous period of rest of at least 24 hours per week, including Sunday as a rule, depending on the labour law provisions in force for each category of employees.
5. Incomes and taxation
The annual earnings of salaried persons are made up of 12 monthly salaries, one additional salary as a Christmas gift, half an additional salary as an Easter gift and half an additional salary as a summer leave gift.
The earnings of employees are subject to deductions relating to:
* health insurance;
* income tax payable by natural persons in proportion to income and family obligations;
* old-age pension insurance;
* unemployment insurance.
Low incomes from salaried services are exempt from tax.
Annual personal income of 12 000 euro is not subject to income tax. The tax-free income allowance is 14 000 euro for a person with two children and 22 000 euro for a person with three children.
A salesman or a new programmer with a gross monthly salary of 1 200 pays social insurance and pension contributions of about 192 euro. Tax on salaried services depends on whether or not the person has dependent family members. Income of between 12 000 euro and 18 000 euro is taxed at 29% and income of 18 000 to 45 000 is taxed at 39%.
Value Added Tax (VAT) is payable only on purchases of goods and services.
Married couples are taxed separately, receive child allowances either from their employment or from the OAED and are subsidised for a period of time when they acquire a third, fourth or subsequent child.
Local taxes consist of the charges levied by municipalities for sanitation services and lighting etc. Vehicle owners pay an additional annual tax in the order of 150 euro.
Under EU regulations, a person who has worked in two or more EU countries is able to combine state pension contributions paid in each state in order to qualify for a state pension. It is advisable to contact the social security ministry in your own country for more information before you leave for Greece.
6. The social security system in this counrtry
Social insurance is compulsory and all citizens are protected. There are three systems: the system of social insurance for the protection of employees, the system of social welfare which provides care for people in need and the national health system which covers all persons resident in Greek territory.
From the administrative standpoint, the social insurance system is coordinated and supervised mainly by the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection and the health and welfare systems are coordinated by the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity.
The social insurance system seeks to cover the risks faced by employees by granting benefits and services which make up for reduction or loss of income from employment. The system encompasses main and supplementary public insurance and functions through autonomous insurance bodies.
The general body for the social insurance of employed persons is the Social Insurance Institute (IKA).
Persons with their own business and professionals are insured by the Greek Industrialists and Craft Industry Operators Fund (TEVE) (Ταμείο Επαγγελματιών & Βιοτεχνών Ελλάδος (ΤΕΒΕ)).
The Agricultural Insurance Organisation (OGA) (Οργανισμός Γεωργικών Ασφαλίσεων (ΟΓΑ)) provides insurance cover for the entire farming population.
Civil servants and employees of public bodies are covered by the State and separate insurance bodies.
The Social Insurance Institute (IKA) is the largest insurance body in Greece and covers more than half the population. It provides health care for 5 600 000 insured persons, including family members, and pays pensions to 845 000 pensioners.
It provides benefits of two types: benefits in kind and cash benefits.
Insurance by IKA is compulsory and starts from the first day of employment.
IKA obtains its income from the contributions of employees and employers and from government funding.
As soon as you start work as an employee in any kind of dependent paid work (other than in a job for which there is affiliation to another main insurance fund), your employer will get in touch with IKA and ask for the necessary formalities for your insurance to be attended to within three days.
The electronically stored insurance history is charted in the ‘Abstract of the Individual Insurance Account’ which is issued for each insured person every calendar quarter and sent by letter to the insured person's employer who is obliged to pass the abstract on to the insured person. The insured person should keep the abstracts until retirement. Each directly insured person is also issued with and keeps a health booklet, the validity of which is renewed every year for the insured person himself and his family members. Visits to doctors and medical examinations are recorded in the booklet.
Social insurance also includes insurance against unemployment by the Manpower Employment Organisation, entitlement to housing benefits and rent allowances provided by the Workers' Housing Organisation and entitlement to the social tourism and theatre visit benefits etc. provided by the Workers' Foundation.
Source: EURES