Employment law · Greece
Find a workplace discrimination lawyer in Greece
Unequal pay, a passed-over promotion, harassment or a dismissal that came right after you spoke up — these are the situations Greek employment lawyers deal with every week. Tell us what happened and we match you, free of charge, with a lawyer who handles discrimination and dismissal disputes in Greece.
- Employment disputes heard within the Greek civil courts
- Lawyers admitted to a Greek Bar Association and bound by secrecy
- Free matching with no obligation to instruct
We are a matching service, not a law firm. Replies usually within 24–48 hours.
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Employment discrimination
What to do when work turns hostile in Greece
Unequal treatment at work is difficult to prove and even harder to live with, and in Greece the route from a first complaint to a hearing runs through courts whose language and procedure you may not know. If you believe you were passed over, paid less, harassed or dismissed because of your sex, age, origin, religion, disability or another protected characteristic, a workplace discrimination lawyer in Greece can tell you what your position actually is. Lawyers there are admitted to a local Bar Association, are bound by professional secrecy and represent clients before the courts and authorities. We do not give legal advice. We listen to your situation and match you, free of charge, with a Greek employment lawyer who handles discrimination and dismissal disputes.
Greece in practice
How discrimination and dismissal claims work in Greece
Greece is a continental civil-law country: codified statutes, not binding precedent, decide your case, and the labour matters of the Court of Cassation sit inside its civil-law chambers. Understanding which court hears your claim, who may represent you and which time limit applies is what turns a grievance into a case.
How a claim moves through the Greek courts
Greece follows the continental civil-law model, where codified statutes rather than binding precedent govern the outcome. Employment disputes sit within the civil jurisdiction: they begin before the Court of First Instance, may be appealed to the Court of Appeal, and the Areios Pagos reviews only legal correctness through its labour chambers. Proceedings are conducted in Greek.
A discriminatory dismissal is treated as void
Under Greek law an open-ended contract may in principle be terminated without the employer stating a reason. That freedom is still bounded by the prohibition of abuse of rights and by good faith. Dismissals on discriminatory or retaliatory grounds are null and void, and in those cases the burden of proof shifts to the employer to justify the decision.
The clock on dismissal claims runs fast
A dismissal can be challenged as invalid within three months, and a claim for statutory severance within six months. If the same facts are also framed as a delict, the five-year tort limitation period applies alongside a twenty-year absolute ceiling. Missing these windows usually ends the claim, so early advice matters.
Who may represent you in Greece
Practising law in Greece requires membership of a local Bar Association. A lawyer is admitted after passing the nationwide bar examinations, receiving an appointment decision published in the Government Gazette, taking the statutory oath and being entered in a Bar register. The Code of Lawyers describes the lawyer as a public functionary bound by legal professional secrecy.
What a case costs and when the State pays
Legal fees are freely agreed in writing between you and your lawyer; where no written agreement exists, a statutory scale based on the value of the matter applies, and fees carry 24% VAT. Judicial stamp duty on civil claims runs at 4 or 8 per mille plus a 30% surcharge. Free legal aid is available for low-income claimants under Law 3226/2004.
Limitation periods around the employment relationship
Employment claims are not all governed by the same clock. Claims of a periodic nature fall under the five-year period that also covers commercial and professional-fee claims, while other civil claims may attract the general twenty-year limitation period. Your lawyer will map each head of claim to the correct period before filing.
Key time limit — Employment Law
Challenge of dismissal (wrongful or unfair dismissal) — 3 months (invalidity) / 6 months (severance). The three-month window concerns invalidity; severance claims follow the six-month window.
All country-specific details on this page come from official Greek bodies, the Greek Ministry of Justice and the European e-Justice Portal, consulted in 2025.
- European e-Justice Portal — National justice systems: Greece
- Athens Bar Association — the legal profession in Greece
- European e-Justice Portal — Costs: Greece
- Greek Ministry of Labour — individual employment relations FAQ
- Greek Ministry of Labour (HLI) — termination of an open-ended contract
- Greek Ministry of Justice — Greek Civil Code
Why this is hard alone
Three situations we hear every week
Discrimination cases are rarely straightforward, and in Greece the procedural rules are unforgiving.
You are not sure it counts as discrimination
Being treated badly at work is not automatically unlawful. In Greece the difference turns on whether a protected characteristic drove the decision, and employers rarely say so in writing. That is why an early, structured review of what happened matters.
You have already been dismissed
The three-month window for challenging a dismissal as invalid and the six-month window for severance run quickly, and they run whether or not you feel ready. Gathering documents and witness details early protects your position.
You do not know who to trust
Greece requires lawyers to be members of a Bar Association and binds them to professional secrecy, but choosing among thousands of practices is still difficult. A short, structured conversation about your situation is a reasonable first step.
How matching helps
A lawyer who already knows your kind of dispute
We match on the facts of your case, not on advertising budgets.
Matched on your actual problem
We do not send a generic list. You describe what happened — the dismissal, the pay gap, the harassment, the promotion you were passed over for — and we match you with a lawyer who handles that kind of Greek employment dispute.
Greek procedure, explained plainly
Your matched lawyer works within the Greek civil court system and in the Greek language, and can explain which court hears your matter, what a written fee agreement looks like and how the statutory time limits apply to you.
Free, and with no obligation
Matching costs you nothing, and instructing nobody is a perfectly normal outcome. You decide whether to proceed after hearing what the lawyer says about your position and about the deadlines running against your claim.
Confidential by design
Greek lawyers are bound by legal professional secrecy under the Code of Lawyers, so what you share with the lawyer you are matched with stays protected. You choose how much detail to give before you decide to go further.
Cross-border situations
Discrimination at work touches people across Europe
Many people who work in Greece come from elsewhere in Europe, and many Greeks work for employers based abroad. If your situation crosses a border, tell us — we match across jurisdictions.
Questions and answers
Workplace discrimination in Greece: common questions
Do I need a workplace discrimination lawyer in Greece, or can I handle it myself?
You can always file complaints yourself, but Greek discrimination and dismissal disputes turn on evidence and on short statutory windows. A workplace discrimination lawyer in Greece can assess how your facts fit the Civil Code, the abuse-of-rights limits on dismissal and the shift in the burden of proof, and can represent you before the courts in Greek.
How long do I have to challenge a dismissal in Greece?
Two different periods apply. A dismissal can be challenged as invalid within three months, while a claim for statutory severance must be brought within six months. Where the same facts are also pleaded as a delict, a five-year tort limitation period applies alongside a twenty-year absolute ceiling. Early advice is important.
Can my employer dismiss me simply because I complained?
An open-ended contract can in principle be terminated without the employer giving reasons, but that freedom is limited by the prohibition of abuse of rights and by good faith. Dismissals that are discriminatory or retaliatory are null and void in Greek law, and the burden of proof then shifts to the employer.
What language are proceedings conducted in?
Greek. The courts, the filings and the hearings operate in the Greek language, and Greek civil courts apply the Greek Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure. Your matched lawyer works in Greek and handles the documents and the hearings on your behalf.
What will a lawyer cost in Greece?
Fees are freely agreed in writing between you and your lawyer. Where no written agreement exists, a statutory scale based on the value of the matter applies, and fees carry 24% VAT. Court fees include a proportional judicial stamp duty of 4 or 8 per mille plus a 30% surcharge.
Can I get free legal aid in Greece?
Yes, in criminal, civil and commercial cases under Law 3226/2004. Low-income citizens whose annual family income does not exceed two thirds of the minimum annual personal income set by the National General Collective Labour Agreement qualify, and applicants with a disability of 67% or more qualify regardless of income.
Next step
Tell us what happened at work
Describe your situation in a few lines — what was said, what was done, when it happened and whether you are still employed. We will match you free of charge with a workplace discrimination lawyer in Greece who handles cases like yours, and you decide what to do next.