Seniority increments in Greece (2026): 10 % on the minimum wage every three years
Each completed three-year period of service raises the Greek minimum wage by 10 %, up to three periods.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
Greek law tops up the minimum wage for experience. Every completed three-year period of service, called a trietia, adds 10 % to the statutory minimum, with a maximum of 3 periods. On the €920 minimum in force since 1 April 2026, each increment is worth €92 gross a month, so the minimum becomes €1,012 after three years, €1,104 after six and €1,196 after nine. For a full-time employee over 30 with no children, net pay rises from €772 to €959 per payment, or €2,628 more over a year of fourteen payments. The increments flow into the Christmas and Easter bonuses, the leave allowance and severance, because all four are calculated on regular pay. Nothing more is added after nine years on the statutory minimum. Collective agreements may grant their own seniority allowances, which this page and its calculator do not cover.
What seniority increments add to your pay
Gross with the increments
€1,104
| Net with the increments | €897 |
| Net without increments | €772 |
| Net difference per year | €1,757 |
Net minimum pay by increments and children
| Increments | Gross minimum | Net, no children | Net, 1 child | Net, 2 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None (0-2 years) | €920 | €772 | €782 | €797 |
| 1 (3+ years) | €1,012 | €835 | €847 | €866 |
| 2 (6+ years) | €1,104 | €897 | €911 | €931 |
| 3 (9+ years) | €1,196 | €959 | €975 | €997 |
Figures are per payment, for a full-time employee over 30, out of fourteen payments a year. The Ministry of Labour published the same nine combinations when the 2026 minimum took effect, and the engine behind this site reproduces each of them to within one euro. Children lower the tax rather than raise the gross, which is why the gaps between columns are small: at this level of pay the employee tax credit already absorbs most of the income tax.
If you are 25 or younger the picture changes again. Taxpayers up to 25 pay 0 % on the first two brackets, so on the bare minimum you keep €797, and even with three increments, if you had them that early, €1,036: everything except the 13.37 % social security contribution.
How the increment is applied
The increment is not a separate allowance with its own rules; it is a percentage of the minimum wage. That has a useful consequence: it moves automatically with every rise in the minimum. When the minimum went from €880 to €920 on 1 April 2026, an employee with three increments moved from €1,144 to €1,196 without signing anything. The ministry’s own announcement lists increments among the payments that follow the new minimum.
The legal figure is a floor for full-time salaried staff with that much service. If you already earn more, the calculator at the top of the page accepts any base salary and shows what a 10 % step per period would add on top of it, which is useful when your contract or collective agreement uses the same mechanism. It does not apply such a step automatically to salaries above the minimum.
The 2024 “unfreezing”
Greek colleagues may tell you the increments were “unfrozen”. The official trace is a 2024 statement published by the Ministry of Labour on that year’s minimum wage rise, which counted among those affected “those entitled to the increments that were unfrozen at the start of the year” (trieties pou xepagosan). For 2026, the increments are part of the ministry’s published pay examples, and that is the rule this page applies.
Net minimum wage, with seniority increments
Net per payment
€772
| Gross | €920 |
| EFKA | €123 |
| Tax | €25 |
| Net on a 12-month basis | €900 |
Checking your payslip
On a Greek payslip the increments may appear inside the basic salary or as a separate line, often labelled with the word τριετίες. Either is fine; what matters is the total gross for a full month of full-time work. Compare it with the table above for your number of completed periods. If the total is lower, ask payroll how your service has been counted before assuming an error: a period only counts once it is complete, so someone at five years and eleven months still has one increment, not two. The Labour Inspectorate is the body that handles complaints about pay below the legal minimum.
What three increments are worth over a year
Seen month by month, €92 gross per increment can look modest. Over a year it adds up, because it touches all fourteen payments and the payments derived from them. With three increments, the Christmas bonus alone rises from €958 to €1,246, and the leave allowance reaches €598. Severance is where the difference is largest: an employee dismissed without notice after nine years receives €5,367 on the bare minimum and €6,977 with three increments, since the payment is based on the last month’s regular pay plus one sixth for the bonuses.
For the employer, each increment costs the gross step plus the 21.79 % employer contribution: €112 per payment, so a little over €1,569 a year.
What this page does not cover
Two things are outside the calculation. The first is seniority pay set by collective agreements, which can use a different percentage, more steps or a different base. If your sector has an agreement, its text decides, not this page. The second is proving your service: which past jobs count and what documents your employer may ask for depend on your own record. The calculator takes the number of periods as given and applies the statutory rule of 10 % up to 3.
To see the complete picture with your age and children, enter the gross including increments in the main Greek salary calculator. If you are paid by the day rather than the month, start with the daily wage guide.