Tell us about your agency, your sectors and the countries you recruit in, and we will reply in writing.
Athens is Greece's capital and the seat of the Attica Region, yet the Municipality of Athens (Dimos Athinaion) covers only about 39 square kilometres, split into seven municipal communities. Employers who might ask for non-EU candidates are spread across that compact centre and the wider Attica basin. AtoZ Serwis Plus is looking for agencies abroad, workforce suppliers,s and other recruitmentpartners that cano presentqualified candidatese againstspecific, verifiedd requestsfrom employerss,ando prefer a documentedprocess overo a quick one.
Three parties would take part. The Greek employer, or a Greek agency whose activity has been lawfully notified to the Labour Ministry, makes the hiring decision and holds the contract and invitation file, if one takes part. The partner abroad finds, informs and prepares candidates under its own national rules. AtoZ Serwis Plus sits in the middle, matches a written request with suitable profiles, compares paperwork from both sides, and keeps each side informed. AtoZ Serwis Plus is not a Greek private employment agency or temporary work agency; it has no office in Greece and holds no Athens vacancies or job orders of its own.
Enterprise Greece, the state investment and trade agency, presents Athens as a city-break destination with an active city life, close to Western Europe in time zones and linked by direct flights, and treats city breaks as income spread across the year. For a recruiter, this changes the brief: demand spread across the year means an Athens employer may want staff for twelve months, pointings to thedependent-workerk route rather than a seasonal approval.
The Municipality lists projects co-financed by EU funds and an urban regeneration scheme in Votanikos. Contractors on public schemes, private renovations and fit-outs may need formwork carpenters, steel fixers, masons, tilers, plasterers, painters, electricians, plumbers and general labourers. Screen for the materials and methods a candidate has used, scaffolding and height experience, and any safety cards already held. A contractor on a strategic investment, public work or project of special national importance may qualify for a priority invitation procedure and should say so in its request.
Enterprise Greece describes Piraeus as the country’s main port, a major container and car terminal, and a leading entry point to Europe for goods made in Asia, with a large logistics centre at Thriasio, reachable from the port. Its newsletter reports that distribution centres and a freight village are taking shape in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens. Piraeus is a separate municipality, and Aspropyrgos lies outside the city, so the warehouse role is near Athens rather than in it. Warehouse operatives, pickers, forklift and reach-truck operators, inventory clerks and lorry drivers are the profiles to prepare. A lorry driver also needs a PEI qualification and a Greek tachograph driver card, issued only to someone normally resident in Greece who holds a Greek licence.
The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents commercial and industrial firms. Retail, wholesale and service companies may need stock handlers, delivery drivers, maintenance technicians and cleaners. The digital work card, which logs each start and finish live in ERGANI, covers a growing list of sectors, among them industry, retail, hotels and food service, cleaning, and employment and staffing agencies. Ask each employer whether it applies, because it shapes how late and split shifts are planned. For current figures by sector or region, use the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), not numbers passed along by intermediaries.
Sourcing would begin from a written request, not a general database. Once an Athens employer describes a post, the partner agency would shortlist people who match the skills, experience, and shift pattern. It would explain the realities first: city living costs, public transport commutes, late and weekend work in hospitality, early starts on sites, and rotating shifts in warehouses. Candidates who know those conditions before applying can make an informed choice.
At first screening, thee partner would collect just a CV and proof of the core skill. For a cook that could be photographs of plated dishes and a trade certificate; for a tiler, pictures of finished floors; for a forklift operator, a training certificate and a short video of safe driving. Passports, identity cards and civil documents wait until an employer has chosen someone and has listed in writing what the invitation and visa will need.
Nationality is a matter of the rules, not preference. The act fixing the yearly ceiling can name eligible countries. Besides the general procedure, Greece has a seasonal farm scheme with Egypt, whose authorities select the candidates, and a migration and mobility arrangement with Bangladesh. Labour mobility arrangements with India, Vietnam and the Philippines have been discussed, but none is in force, so candidates from those countries use the general procedure. Nobody can promise that a particular nationality will be accepted for an Athens post.
Beforapproaching e any candidate, the employer is checked. Greek firms and traders are registered in the General Commercial Registry (GEMI), searchable online by tax number (AFM), GEMI number, or name, and showing legal form, registered seat, status, purpose, and the people in charge. AADE, which allocates the AFM, also runs a lookup of basic registry details. The parties would compare those results with the letterhead, the signatory and the workplace in the request.
One trap is specific to a capital. A Greek company may keep its registered seat or head office in central Athens. At the same time, the real workplace may be an island hotel, a warehouse in Aspropyrgos, or a site in another Attica municipality. The workplace determines which Aliens and Migration Directorate is competent, where the worker will sleep, and how long the commute will be, so the job order must list the real address, not the head office.
If a Greek agency sits in the chain, its standing would also be checked. A private employment agency can start only after notifying the Ministry of Labour, which may block it, and the Labour Inspectorate oversees its work; a temporary work agency also notifies the Ministry, lodges guarantees and shares liability with the user company. The job order should then set out:
Nationals of other EU states, the EEA and Switzerland need no permit to take an Athens job. Anyone among them staying beyond three months obtains a registration certificate from the Hellenic Police service for foreign nationals in Attica.
Non-EU candidates are split into two groups. People abroad can come only by invitation, within the annual ceiling. People already in Greece can be taken on only if they hold a residence permit that allows work, and the employer should see the card itself, not a copy or a verbal assurance. There is no general regularisation programme, so someone without a valid permit cannot be placed in an Athens job and sorted out later.
A short-stay Schengen visa, or a visa-free visit within the 90 days allowed in any 180, never authorises paid work in Athens, and a national visa on its own does not allow work. Confirm with the employer when the worker may start, based on the documents the worker holds. A Greek permit lets its holder visit other Schengen countries briefly but not work there.
The legal basis is the Migration Code, reworked to combine residence and work into one application and a single permit. Each year, the Council of Ministers sets how many non-EU workers may be admitted in each sector and may list the countries they can come from; an invitation (metaklisi) succeeds only within that limit. For an Athens post, the order of events is:
Attica has four Aliens and Migration Directorates: Athens A’, the Central Sector and Western Attica, the Northern Sector and Eastern Attica, and the Southern Sector, Piraeus and Islands. The Decentralised Administration of Attica says that Athens A’ serves the Municipality of Athens and that applications and renewals run on an electronic platform. An invitation for a warehouse in Aspropyrgos or a terminal post in Piraeus would therefore go to a different directorate than one for a hotel near Syntagma.
Greek rules give the authorities 90 days to decide a complete single-permit file; that is a legal limit for one stage, not a promise. The permit lasts several years and is renewable, with renewal lodged before it expires. You can move to another employer after an initial spell, or sooner if the first employer seriously breaks labour law or lets the worker go. Tourism is among the seasonal sectors, so an Athens hotel with a real peak could seek named seasonal staff for at most nine months in twelve months, show suitable housing, and, with, with multi-season approval,, let the same person come back. Licensed temporary work agencies that meet capital conditions may also employ invited workers directly.
A full-time week in Greece is 40 hours. Hours above the contract up to a set point count as extra work with a premium; past that, overtime must be entered in ERGANI before it is worked, is capped daily and yearly, and earns a higher premium. Paid annual leave rises with service. For Athens hotel and restaurant rotas with split shifts, ask how the employer keeps hours within these limits and records them.
Greece’s statutory minimum wage, including a daily rate for manual workers, is set by joint decision of the Labour and Finance Ministers after annual consultation with experts and social partners. It applies to every full-time employee,,regardless ofir ag;e;; no contract mfall go below it, and invited workers must receive at least that rate. Partners should take the current amount from the Ministry of Labour and compare it with gross and net pay in the draft contract. The employer gives a breakdown of pay and deductions; ask it to confirm in writing how and when wages will be paid. Workers holdingae single permit must be treated on equal terms with Greek colleagues and canfilee a grievancewitho the Labour Inspectorate.
Each deduction should be in the contract, with its amount or method so that the worker can check it. When seasonal staff pay for employer housing, the charge must be in a written agreement, remain proportional to wages and the room offered, and cannot simply be docked from pay; the same discipline applies to every Athens placement. Each worker also needs AMKA (social insurance) and AFM (tax) numbers, and the employer enrols them with e-EFKA.
Housing needs early attention in a city placement. An Athens hotel or contractor may provide rooms, help find a flat or leave workers to rent privately, and each option changes take-home pay. The job order should say which applies, where the housing is, how many share a room and what the worker pays. Unless the employer confirms in writing that rooms cost nothing, never describe housing as free to candidates, and ask for photographs of the rooms before anyone accepts.
The commute deserves the same scrutiny. The port at Piraeus and the logistics zone at Aspropyrgos lie outside the municipal boundary, and someone living in the centre but working at one of them may face a long trip. Ask for shift start and finish times, whether public transport runs at those hours, and whether staff transport covers night or early shifts.
Hypothetical example: a hotel in central Athens asks for four room attendants and offers shared flats in a neighbouring municipality. The partner would ask how long the journey takes, who pays for it, what the monthly rent is and whether it appears in the contract, and would give candidates those answers in writing before any interview.
Documents follow the stage reached. At first screening ,only a CV and proof of the core skill are needed. After selection, the employer or Greek agency supplies a written list of what the invitation and consulate require, which may include a passport, a criminal record certificate, qualifications and medical evidence. Partners should not request anything missing from that list and should not keep originals.
Personal data falls under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and Greece’s implementing law, supervised by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority in Athens. Each party needs a lawful basis for what it gathers, should pass on only what the next step requires and should delete what is no longer needed. When candidate files go to a partner outside the EU, the GDPR requires a transfer safeguard, for instance, standard contractual clauses signed by both sides.
Selection is theemployer’ss decision. Interviews can be conducted by video, with the partner agency arranging a quiet room, a working connection, and an interpreter where needed. For skilled posts, a practical test at home gives an Athens employer more direct evidence than a CV: a filmed cooking test, a tiling or plastering sample, a forklift circuit with a qualified assessor, or a road assessment with a licensed instructor.
The parties would agree beforehand what is tested, who assesses it, and how results are recorded, so the employer receives comparable evidence for each person and candidates can see their own results. Language should be tested against the real job: following safety instructions on a site, reading a pick list or greeting hotel guests. Anyone not selected should hear promptly and should never pay for an interview or test.
Before travel, the candidate should hold the signed contract or offer, the national visa, theemployer’ss address and contact person, and written details of the first night’s accommodation. The partner agency would review hours, pay date, deductions, housing, and commute, and stress that the residence permit application must follow soon after arrival. If the worker flies into Athens International Airport, the employer should say who will meet them and how they will reach their lodging.
Before day one, the employer gives the core employment terms in writing (paper, digital or via MyErgani) and files the ERGANI hiring notice. Where the digital work card applies, clocking in and out is recorded from the first shift. A short arrival sheet helps: 112 for emergencies, 100 for the police, 1109 for trafficking, 1555 for the Labour Inspectorate, plus theemployer’ss and partner’s contacts. Check-in calls after the first week and month show quickly whether the job matches the offer.
Under Greek law, a private employment agency pays nothing for the placement; the employer settles the agency’s charge, and temporary work agencies are likewise barred from billing workers for an assignment. AtoZ Serwis Plus cooperation rules out any charge to a candidate, whatever it is called: registration fee, visa fee, training fee or deposit. A partner that takes money from candidates for an Athens placement cannot take part.
Warning signs include offers using a well-known Athens hotel’s name with no contact from the hotel, demands for payment for a visa slot, contracts under six months dressed up as invitation contracts, and claims that a short-stay visa can become a work permit. Trace every offer to the employer through GEMI, the AFM and a direct call. If anything fails to match, stop and tell the candidate.
A worker in Athens can lodge a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate, an independent authority, online (anonymously if preferred) or on 1555. Forcing someone to work through deception, threats, or debt is a serious criminal offence in Greece; dial 1109 for the national anti-trafficking line, 100 for the police, or 112, and the National Referral Mechanism offers victims shelter and support. Partners should give workers these numbers in writing and stay in touch for the whole contract.
These official pages are the starting points for checks. Details can change, so confirm them at the source.
If your agency has proven candidates for hotel kitchens and housekeeping, building trades, warehouse work or professional driving, and you are ready to work through employer checks and the invitation sequence step by step, please get in touch. Let us know which Athens sectors match your pool, which countries you recruit in, how you are licensed or registered at home, and how you test skills and protect candidate data.
Begin with the recruiter registration form. We would review your details and, when an employer request matches your strengths, discuss it with you in writing. For the wider Greek framework and the other cities in this set, see the Greece recruiter page.
Register your agency and tell us which Athens sectors match your candidates. We would come back to you when a checked employer request fits your strengths.
Official sources point to hotels and restaurants, building and renovation, logistics near Athens around Piraeus and Aspropyrgos, and commerce and city services. Each placement depends on a specific, verified request from a Greek employer, and candidates are prepared only once that request exists in writing.
Yes. The digital work card, the live clock-in record linked to ERGANI, has been extended to employment and staffing agencies, cleaning, telecommunications, health and personal services, with penalties applying. Partners placing invited workers in Athens through a Greek agency should ask the agency how hours of assigned workers are recorded.
Tourism is one of the sectors open to seasonal invitations. A hotel names the workers it wants, for no more than nine months in twelve months, and must show where they will live. Multi-season approval lets the same people return. Whether this or the dependent-work route fits depends on how long the hotel really needs them.
The Decentralised Administration of Attica runs four Aliens and Migration Directorates. Its Athens A’ directorate serves the Municipality of Athens, while Piraeus and the western and northern parts of Attica have their own. The employer files on the Migration and Asylum Ministry's online platform, addressed to the directorate covering the workplace.
No. Piraeus is a separate municipality, and Attica has a distinct Aliens and Migration Directorate for the Southern Sector, Piraeus and Islands. A port or terminal job is near Athens rather than in it, so the job order should name the actual workplace and the invitation should go to the right directorate.
They are near Athens, not in it. Enterprise Greece reports new distribution centres and a freight village at Aspropyrgos, west of the city. Candidates should know the exact address, how long the commute will be from where they live, and whether the employer provides transport for early or late shifts before they accept.
No. AtoZ Serwis Plus has no office in Greece, in the capital or elsewhere, and the ccompany hasno vacancies or job orders of its own. The Greek employer, or a Greek agency lawfully notified to the Labour Ministry ((if one takes part), hires, signs the contract, and files the invitation.
The Greek employer signs it, or a licensed temporary work agency acting on behalf of the worker's direct employer. Neither AtoZ Serwis Plus nor the partner agency abroad is a party to it. They would check that the draft matches the job order before candidates see it.
Yes, if it is licensed and meets the capital conditions; it can then employ invited non-EU staff directly and assign them to a user company. Such agencies notify the Labour Ministry, lodge guarantees, and jointly answer with the user company for unpaid wages and contributions. Check the notification before working with one.
Search the General Commercial Registry (GEMI) by tax number, GEMI number, or name to see the egal form, registered seat, sstatussand managers. AADE, which allocates the tax number, also offers a lookup of basic registry details. Compare the results with the letterhead, signatory and workplace named in the job order.
Legal name, AFM and GEMI number, the role and number of posts, the real workplace address, a contract of six months or more at or above the statutory minimum, weekly hours and shifts, housing and commuting arrangements, any cost to the worker, and a draft contract in a language candidates read.
A company may keep a head office in central Athens while staff work at an island hotel, a warehouse to the west or a site in another municipality. The workplace decides which directorate the invitation is addressed to, where the worker can live and how long the commute is, so the head office address alone is not enough.
Yes. The Council of Ministers sets a yearly limit by sector and can list the countries workers may come from. An invitation succeeds only within that limit, so partners should ask the employer to confirm the sector still has room before anyone prepares candidates.
Invitations run through the general procedure within the yearly limit and any country list the Government adopts. Separate schemes exist with Egypt for seasonal farm work and with Bangladesh on migration and mobility. Arrangements with India, Vietnam and the Philippines have been discussed, but none is in force. No nationality is assured a place in an Athens request.
Greek rules allow 90 days to decide a complete single-permit file. That is a legal limit for one stage, not a promise for any particular case, and the invitation and consular steps come before it. Partners should never quote overall timeframes to candidates as if they were fixed.
After an initial spell with the first employer, yes, and sooner if that employer seriously breaks labour law or dismisses the worker. Any new Athens employer must still declare the hire properly and offer lawful terms, so check the move before it happens.
No. Neither a short-stay Schengen visa nor a visa-free visit authorises paid work. The route is an approved invitation, then a national visa, then a residence permit for work. Anyone who offers to turn a tourist trip into a job in Athens should be treated as a warning sign.
No. A Greek work residence permit allows brief visits elsewhere in the Schengen area, but not work there. Work in another EU state requires that state’s own authorisation, so workers placed through this cooperation should expect to work only in Greece.
No. People from other EU states, the EEA and Switzerland can take an Athens job without a permit. If they stay beyond three months, they obtain a registration certificate from the Hellenic Police service for foreign nationals in Attica.
No. Greece runs no general regularisation programme. An employer can only invite workers from abroad or hire people already holding a residence permit that allows work. They should check the card type and expiry before making any offer.
Only a CV and proof of the core skill, such as photographs of plated dishes, a trade certificate or a short video of the cook at work. Passports and identity papers aren't needed yet; they follow once an employer has chosen the candidate and provided a written list.
Contractors might request formwork carpenters, steel fixers, masons, tilers, plasterers, painters, electricians, plumbers, and general labourers. The Municipality of Athens lists EU co-financed projects and urban regeneration in Votanikos. Each placement still depends on a named contractor’s written request and a matching draft contract.
Yes. Anyone driving a lorry or bus for a living in Greece must hold the PEI (Certificate of Professional Competence), which appears as code 95 on the licence or on a driver qualification card. Without it , a driver cannot work professionally, no matter their experience at home, so check for it before presenting anyone.
Only licences from a short list of countries in Greek rules can be swapped without a full test, and Albania is on it. Driversfrom otherr countriesmuste sit the Greek tests. Confirm the current list and categories with the Region of Attica transport service, and never promise a candidate an exchange.
The full-time week is 40 hours. Extra work and overtime carry premiums, and you must enter overtime in ERGANI before you work it. The special sixth-day option for five-day businesses excludes hotels and food service. Ask the Athens employer for the rota, rest days and how split shifts are handled.
Yes. The Labour and Finance Ministers jointly set the statutory minimum wage and daily wage after a yearly round of consultation with experts, employers, and unions ends, and the floor covers every full-time employee regardless of age. No invited worker may earn less. Take the current amount from the Ministry of Labour and check it against the draft contract for the Athens post.
Where seasonal staff pay for employer housing, the charge needs a written agreement, must be proportional to pay and the room, and cannot be docked automatically. For any placement, ask that each deduction appear in the contract with its amount or method so the worker can check every payslip.
It depends on the employer. Some may provide rooms, some may help find a flat, and some may expect workers to rent privately. Ask for the address, room sharing,g and any charges in writing, and don't consider accommodation free until the employer confirms it in writing.
The port at Piraeus and the warehouses at Aspropyrgos lie outside the municipality, and some hotels and sites sit in other Attica municipalities. Ask for exact shift times, whether public transport runs then, and whether the employer arranges transport for night or early shifts. A long unpaid commute can turn a fair contract into a poor one.
Possibly. The digital work card logs start and finish times live and feeds them to ERGANI, and hotels and food service, retail, industry and security are among the sectors it covers. Ask the Athens employer whether its activity falls inside the system, because the card gives the worker a reliable record of hours.
Candidates can fly into Athens International Airport. The worker travels on a national visa and must apply for a residence permit for work soon after arrival. The employer should specify in advance who will meetwill meet the worker and how they will will reach their lodging on the first night.
Personal data falls under the GDPR and Greece’s implementing law, and the Hellenic Data Protection Authority in Athens supervises compliance. Each party should collect only what the current stage needs, share files only with those who must see them and delete what is no longer required.
No. Greek law says a person placed by a private employment agency pays nothing for it; the employer settles the agency’s charge, and temporary work agencies may not bill workers for an assignment. At AtoZ Serwis Plus, no candidate is ever asked to pay, under any label.
The Labour Inspectorate is an independent authority that accepts complaints online (anonymously, if the worker prefers) and via the 1555 hotline. Single permit holders are owed equal treatment with Greek colleagues and can use the same channels. Partners should give workers these details in writing before departure.
Call 1109 (the Greek anti-trafficking helpline), 100 (police), or 112 in an emergency. Forced labour is a grave criminal offence in Greece, and the National Referral Mechanism can arrange shelter, medical care and legal help for victims.
Warning signs include an offer using a famous hhotel’sname with no direct contact from the hotel, money demanded for a visa slot, contracts under six months sold as invitation contracts, and claims that a tourist visa can become a work permit. Trace every offer through GEMI and the AFM.
The employer decides. Video interviews are practical, with the partner agency arranging a quiet room, a stable connection and an interpreter where needed. Practical skills tests at home then give the Athens employer comparable evidence for each candidate, recorded in a format agreed beforehand.
Ask each employer. Guest-facing hotel posts may need conversational English, while building and warehouse posts may need enough to follow safety instructions and read a pick list. Test language against the job's real tasks rather than relying on a general certificate.
DYPA is the Public Employment Service. Its online finder shows which service point covers a given address, including addresses in Athens. Partners do not deal with DYPA directly, but an employer may already use its local service point and can explain how that fits with an invitation.
The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) publishes current employment and labour force figures, including regional breakdowns. Rely on ELSTAT rather than numbers passed along by intermediaries, and check the reference period of any statistic before quoting it to candidates.
AtoZ Serwis Plus matches a written employer request with suitable candidate profiles, compares documents from both sides, and keeps communication clear. It does not hire, sign contracts or file invitations. The employer selects, and the partner agency stays responsible for its own candidates.
Use the recruiter registration form and include your licence or registration details at home, the countries you recruit in, the sectors where you have proven candidates, how you test skills and how you protect candidate data. Say which Athens sectors interest you; the Greece recruiter page sets out the national framework.
No. The employer makes every selection after reviewing CVs, skills evidence and interviews. Partners should tell candidates plainly that being presented is not an offer, and that no visa, permit or job can be promised at any stage.
The permit issued after an invitation is a single permit covering residence and work. It lasts several years and can be renewed as long as the conditions hold. Lodging the renewal before expiry is key, and the worker should keep copies of every submission.
Ask the contractor how site induction works, which protective equipment it supplies and whether any training must be completed before work. Candidates should bring evidence of any safety certificates they hold, such as for work at height or scaffolding, so the Athens employer can assess what extra training is needed.
Firms delivering strategic investments, public works or nationally significant projects have access to a priority track, and Greek consulates put those workers’ visa files at the front of the queue. The contractor should confirm that its project qualifies before asking a partner to prepare candidates on that basis.
Every worker needs an AMKA for social insurance and an AFM for tax, and the employer enrols the worker with e-EFKA. For invited seasonal workers, these numbers are issued electronically from the application.
Yes. Paid leave builds up from the first month, pro rata in the first year, and the entitlement grows with service. Leave is recorded in ERGANI, and the worker is paid normally while away.
Not on a foreign licence. The driver card for the digital tachograph is applied for online through gov.gr, and the applicant needs normal residence in Greece and a valid Greek licence. A non-EU driver therefore normally needs a Greek licence first, so an Athens logistics employer should plan for that step before the first route.
The partner agencyshould reviewh the contract, pay date, deductions, hours, housin,g and commute, andprovider written emergency number:, the Labour Inspectorate line 1555 and the trafficking line 1109. Check-in calls after the first week and month help catch problems early.
A private employment agency may act as an intermediary only after notifying the Ministry of Labour, which can block the activity. It must meet premises and staffing requirements, report placements, and keep records, including proof of the right to work for non-EU nationals it places, under the supervision of the Labour Inspectorate.
The workplace decides, not the head office. A company registered in central Athens that needs staff for an islandhotel should addresss the invitation to the directorate covering that island, and the job order shouldincludee the hotel address, the housing offere,d and how workers reach the island.
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