Severance for long service in Greece 2026: the frozen extra months
Who still benefits from the transitional rule of Law 4093/2012, and how much it adds to Greek severance.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
Employees who on 12 November 2012 had completed at least 17 years with the same Greek employer receive extra severance on top of the standard 12 months, whenever they are dismissed: one extra month at 17 years, two at 18, and one more per year up to 12 months at 28 years or more. The count was frozen on that date, so service after 2012 does not increase it. The salary used for the extra months is limited to €2,000, while the standard months use your real salary up to €9,861.60, and the whole sum is raised by one sixth. In practice the rule covers people hired on or before 12 November 1995 who never changed employer. On €2,400 a month, someone hired in January 1990 now receives €47,600 on dismissal without notice, against €33,600 for a colleague hired in January 1996 who falls outside the rule.
The extra severance for 17+ years
Extra months
4
| Extra amount (pay capped at €2,000) | €9,333 |
| Total severance | €42,933 |
Check it by your hiring date
| Hired | Years on 12.11.2012 | Extra months | Severance today at €2,400 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1995 | 17 | +1 | €35,933 |
| January 1994 | 18 | +2 | €38,267 |
| January 1993 | 19 | +3 | €40,600 |
| January 1992 | 20 | +4 | €42,933 |
| January 1990 | 22 | +6 | €47,600 |
| January 1988 | 24 | +8 | €52,267 |
| January 1986 | 26 | +10 | €56,933 |
| January 1984 | 28 | +12 | €61,600 |
| January 1980 | 32 | +12 | €61,600 |
The table assumes continuous service with one employer, dismissal in 2026 without notice, and a salary of €2,400. The second column is what matters for the rule: completed years on the day Law 4093/2012 was published. Everyone in the table has well over 16 years of total service today, so they all sit at the top of the standard scale; the difference between rows comes entirely from the extra months. A colleague hired in January 1996 would receive €33,600.
The hiring date on your first contract, or on your e-EFKA insurance record for that employer, settles the question. If you were transferred between companies, the rule speaks of the same employer, and whether a transfer kept that continuity is a legal question this page cannot answer.
Two counters, one of them frozen
Long-serving staff have two different service figures. Total years with the employer keep running, but they stopped mattering once they passed 16, where the standard scale tops out. Years on 12 November 2012 never change. The Ministry’s interpretive circular 26352/839 of 28 November 2012 is explicit: service after that date is not counted for the extra severance, which stays at the number of months reached on that day.
What does change is the salary. The extra months are paid on your pay in the last full-time month before dismissal, not on what you earned in 2012, but only up to €2,000. For most employees in this group, whose salaries have grown with seniority, that limit is the binding one.
A worked example
A sales manager hired in 1992 had 20 completed years on 12 November 2012, which gives 4 extra months. Today she has 34 years of service and earns €3,600. The standard 12 months use her full salary: €43,200. The 4 extra months use €2,000: €8,000. With the one-sixth uplift the statutory severance is €59,733. Without the €2,000 limit the same months would have produced €67,200, so the limit costs her €7,467.
If the employer had given written notice, the calculator halves the whole amount, extra months included, as it does for the standard scale.
Leaving to retire: what is left of the severance
With auxiliary insurance (40 %)
€15,773
| Without auxiliary (50 %) | €19,717 |
| Full severance (base) | €39,433 |
| Months counted | 13 |
When leaving to retire, the €2,000 limit on the extra months does not apply.
Leaving for retirement
Many people in this group are close to pension age, so the more frequent question is what happens on retirement rather than dismissal. An employee who leaves, or is asked to leave, because they meet the conditions for a full old-age pension receives 40 % of the no-notice severance if they have auxiliary pension cover, or 50 % if they do not. The Labour Inspectorate adds that the €2,000 limit is not applied in this case: only the years on 12 November 2012 count. With €2,100 and 19 years in 2012, the full base is €36,750, compared with €36,400 on a dismissal where the limit applies.
There is a third route under article 8 of Law 3198/1955. An employee with 15 years at the same employer, or who has reached the age limit of their pension fund (67 where there is none), may leave with the employer’s consent and receive half of the statutory severance. The consent is a condition: without it, this reduced severance is not due. The retirement age guide sets out when a full pension becomes available.
Before you sign anything
Ask for the calculation in writing and check three lines: the number of standard months (12), the number of extra months from your 2012 service, and the salary used for each. Then check that the one-sixth uplift has been applied to both. The severance calculator has a field for years on 12.11.2012 and will reproduce the statutory figure. A contract or collective agreement that gives more still prevails over these minimums.