Gross and net: what the salary in a Greek job ad means

Most job ads in Greece show one of three things. The most common is a monthly gross salary, such as “€1,300 gross”. Next comes a monthly net figure, such as “€1,000 net”, which you see more often in restaurants, shops and warehouses. Larger companies, and ads written in English, often show a yearly gross figure, such as “€25,000 gross per year”.

There is a fourth case, and it is far from rare: the ad shows nothing at all. Until now that was perfectly legal. From 1 November 2026 it changes, as you will see below6.

Whatever form the figure takes, the first step is to bring it to the same unit as your other offers: gross per month, paid 14 times a year. Only then can you compare two ads fairly.

Take a salary of €1,500 gross. First come your contributions to e-EFKA, which are 13.37% for a private-sector employee1. On €1,500 that is €200.55 a month. This money builds your pension, pays for your health cover and gives you the right to unemployment benefit if you ever need it.

What is left is your taxable income. Each month your employer withholds tax on it, using the scale of article 15 of the Income Tax Code5,2. The sum works on a yearly basis: the employer finds the tax for the whole year, subtracts the reduction that the law gives to employees7, and withholds one fourteenth of it from each payment. On €1,500 the tax is €134.66 a month, with no children and over 30.

That brings you to the net: €1,164.79. So out of every €100 gross you keep a little under €80. The share falls as the salary rises, because the tax has bands: the first €10,000 of the year is taxed at 9%, the next part at more, and so on5.

The contributions also have a ceiling. Above €7,761.94 gross a month you pay no contributions on the extra amount8. That affects few salaries, but it explains why the gap between gross and net changes at the very top.

This is where most of the confusion starts. An employee on a monthly salary in Greece does not receive 12 payments a year, but 14. The two extra payments are three amounts that add up to about two salaries:

• The Christmas bonus, about one salary, paid by 21 December3.
• The Easter bonus, about half a salary, paid before Easter3.
• The holiday allowance, up to half a salary, paid with your annual leave4.

On €1,500 gross a month, the Christmas bonus for the whole period is €1,562.50 gross. The two bonuses come to a little over one and a half salaries, because the law adds a small share for leave to each of them3. That is why the Christmas bonus is not exactly one salary, but a little more.

What does this mean for an ad? The monthly salary you read covers the 12 regular payments. The bonuses and the allowance come on top. A salary of €1,500 gross means about €21,000 gross a year, and €16,307.06 net a year.

The other way round, when an ad shows a yearly figure, divide it by 14 and not by 12. €25,000 gross a year is €1,785.71 gross a month, which is €1,350.74 net. If you divided by 12, you would expect a monthly salary that never arrives.

There is one exception. Some companies, usually foreign ones, talk about 12 payments without bonuses. In Greece the bonuses are compulsory for every private-sector employee, so a yearly figure already contains them. If anything in the ad makes you hesitate, ask directly: “Is this figure for 14 salaries?”

Income tax changes from person to person, and the net shows it. From 2026 the tax scale has a set of rates for each number of children, and lower rates for young people5.

Here is €1,500 gross for four different people:

People aged 25 or under pay no tax on the first €20,000 of the year, and people aged 26 to 30 pay 9% on the second band as well5. A parent pays lower rates and gets a larger tax reduction for each child7.

This means two things. First, there is little point in comparing your net with a friend’s net in the same job. Second, the net figure in an ad is worked out for someone, and that someone is not necessarily you.

An ad that says “€1,100 net” looks more honest. It tells you straight away what you will get. In practice, the employer has worked out the gross for an employee with no children, usually over 30, and the contract will show the gross.

To take home €1,100 with no children and over 30, you need €1,404.12 gross. That is the figure you should see in your contract. If the contract shows less, your net will be lower than you were promised, and the difference will show on your first payslip.

The reverse also happens. If you are 24, the same gross leaves you more net than the ad says. The employer will not lower your gross because of that, and has no right to.

So when an ad quotes a net figure, ask for the gross before you accept. It is a simple question and it does not show distrust. It shows that you know what you are signing.

The employer also pays contributions for you, 21.79% on top of the gross1. On a salary of €1,500 gross, the employer’s contributions are €326.85, and the total cost of one payment is €1,826.85.

This explains why a €100 gross raise is no small matter for a business, while far less of it reaches you. It also explains why some employers prefer to talk in net terms: their cost is a good deal higher than what you see, and they want the offer to come across properly.

You do not need to work out the employer’s cost to make your decision. It helps to know it in a negotiation, though, because you understand what you are asking for when you ask for €100 more.

From 1 April 2026 the minimum wage is €920 gross a month for full-time work9. Its net is €771.67, with no children and over 30.

If an ad for a full-time job shows less gross than the minimum wage, something is wrong. Usually the job is part-time, or the ad quotes net pay without saying so. Part-time pay falls in line with the hours, so four hours a day, five days a week, earns half the salary of an eight-hour job.

The minimum wage is also a good reference point for an offer. A salary of €1,200 gross is about 30% above it. To see where a salary stands in your own profession, the tool Where your salary stands compares it with market data.

Law 5316/2026 brings the European directive on pay transparency into Greek law6,10. From 1 November 2026 three things change for you, whether you are looking for a job or already have one:

• The employer tells you the starting pay of the job, or its range, before the interview. It can be in the ad or given to you separately, as long as you learn it in good time6.
• The directive says that the employer does not ask how much you earned in your previous jobs10. The offer rests on the job, not on your old salary.
• Once you work there, you can ask for the average pay by sex for the same work, or for work of equal value6.

In practice, from November you will see more and more ads with a figure, often a range such as “€1,300 to €1,600 gross”. A range is not a promise of the top end. It shows where the employer stands, and it gives you room to negotiate on your experience.

If an ad after 1 November shows no salary, ask before the interview. It is no longer impolite. It is your right.

The salary in the ad is where the conversation starts. Before you accept an offer, it pays to clear up a few things that change the money of the month and of the year. Most employers answer without trouble, and those who hesitate are telling you something too.

Is it full-time? A salary means one thing for eight hours a day and another for six. Ask how many hours a week the contract states. If the job is part-time, the salary is lower, and so are the bonuses and the holiday allowance, which follow your salary.

Is it paid 14 times a year? Ask even if it seems obvious, especially when the ad shows a yearly figure. The answer should be yes, because every employee is entitled to the bonuses and the holiday allowance3,4.

How are extra hours paid? In many jobs the hours do not stop at the end of the shift. The law pays extra hours and overtime at a premium, and a job with regular overtime can leave you more at the end of the month than a job with a higher salary. If you are told that the hours are “included in the salary”, ask to see it in writing.

What kind of contract will you sign? An open-ended contract gives you severance pay if you are dismissed after your first year11. A fixed-term contract ends on the day it states, with no severance. Both are legal, but they are not the same. Ask too whether there is a trial period, and how long it lasts.

What comes on top of the salary? Some companies offer a bonus, private health insurance, meal vouchers or days of remote work. Put a value on them, but do not mistake them for salary. Your salary counts towards your contributions, your pension and your bonuses. A bonus that depends on how the company does in a given year is not guaranteed.

When is the salary paid? Most employers pay at the end of the month, others at the start of the next one. For the first month of a new job, that can mean waiting more than four weeks for your first pay. It is worth knowing before you leave your old job.

None of these questions makes you a difficult candidate. They make you someone who knows what a salary means, and a serious employer values that.