Protection of the working mother

The Special Maternity Protection Benefit, with a duration of up to nine (9) months, is granted to mothers – biological, presumed mothers under Article 1464 of the Greek Civil Code, and adoptive mothers – as well as to eligible parents in the case of acquiring a common child by same-sex spouses, as defined in a joint declaration by the spouses to their employer or employers. The benefit is provided to those who are insured with e-EFKA and work under an employment relationship of dependent labour, either fixed-term or open-ended, on a full-time or part-time basis, or as lawyers under a salaried mandate contract, subject to the following conditions:

It is noted that insured persons who, from the outset of the granting of the special leave, have both an employee/salaried status and a self-employed status are included in the relevant benefit under their status as employees or salaried workers, irrespective of whether they have received maternity benefits as self-employed persons from their insurance institution.

Beneficiaries of this benefit, for the remaining part of the nine-month period, also include employees who, prior to taking up their dependent employment in the private sector, had been employed in the public sector, provided that they were receiving from their institution the Special Leave and Benefit in accordance with Article 36 of Law No 4808/2021, without having exhausted it, that their employment relationship with the public sector was terminated in any manner whatsoever, and that they took up dependent employment in the private sector continuously with the termination, in any manner whatsoever, of their employment contract with the public sector.

In cases of adoption by adoptive mothers or same-sex spouses, the right to the allowance is established from the inclusion of a child up to eight (8) years of age in the family, as evidenced by the supporting documents of the section below.

The special leave and benefit starts from the day following the end of:

• the maternity leave (pregnancy – confinement) and/or
• the leave equal in duration to the reduced working hours for child care (in whole or in part), if it is used, as in force each time, in accordance with the general provisions or the more specific, more favourable arrangements applicable in each sector on these matters, and/or
• all or part of the annual statutory leave, and/or
• any other legal leave that may have been granted.

For cases of employees who have received maternity benefits as self-employed persons, if the employee status has been acquired at a time when the above-mentioned statutory leaves have not been taken, then the point of reference for the start of the special maternity protection leave and benefit is considered to be the end of the nine (9) weeks after childbirth. By way of example, for an employee who has received maternity benefits as a self-employed person with a childbirth date of 18.03.2026, the period of nine (9) weeks after childbirth ends on 19.05.2026, therefore the special leave and benefit will start on 20.05.2026, in the event that no other statutory leaves have intervened.

It is possible for the mother to transfer to the father of the child a part of the relevant leave and benefit, of a total duration of up to seven (7) calendar months, regardless of whether he works under a private-law dependent employment relationship or is a freelancer or self-employed person or farmer, on the conditions that the mother herself is a beneficiary in accordance with the above, without it being required that she has previously used any part of it.

Please note that the order in which parents make use of the leave, supplementing one another, is irrelevant, i.e. the mother may be the first one to take part of the leave and then transfer the remaining part to the father, or vice versa, or there may be several changes on the basis of solemn declarations with the same content submitted by the parents

The beneficiary mother may submit a relevant application to the competent KPA2 Centre of DYPA within an exclusive deadline of sixty (60) days from the date of commencement of the special maternity protection leave.

The application is submitted through the electronic services of DYPA at the following link: https://parentalbenefits.dypa.gov.gr/app/pbnf/r/opsm/esrv/login?sr=02

It is noted that in the case of a transfer by the mother of part of the leave/benefit to the father, following the mother’s application, an application is also submitted through the above electronic link by the father, who confirms the statements made by the mother.

The decision is collected either via one’s individual DYPA e-services account or at the competent DYPA Centre.

The required information/supporting documents for the allowance are as follows:

1. Employer’s Authorisation, which is declared in the Employer’s Certificate submitted (Template 1_Mother) and (Template 2_Father in the case of a transfer. In the case of amendment of the mother’s initial declaration regarding the transfer or non-transfer of her right to the father, amended Employer’s Certificates must also be submitted by both parents (provided that the father is also an employee), with respect to the new periods of the special leave granted to them.
2. i. for biological, presumed and adoptive mothers: the payment of a maternity allowance (pregnancy – confinement, or confinement only in the case of presumed mothers and adoption) from any Fund, Sector, Branch or Account incorporated into e-EFKA for employees or self-employed persons, or from another health insurance body for employees or self-employed persons outside e-EFKA, in the capacity of employee or self-employed person: for those insured with bodies outside e-EFKA, a copy of the maternity allowance decision is submitted. For persons insured with e-EFKA, the information is obtained ex officio through interoperability developed for this purpose. In cases, however, where for any reason it is not possible to obtain information through interoperability, a copy of the maternity allowance decision is submitted.

ii. for beneficiary parents who are same-sex spouses: the potential payment of a maternity allowance (until the competent bodies adapt to the procedures). To this end, a certificate from their insurance body is attached, stating that they meet, as applicable, the insurance conditions for the payment of a maternity allowance as for adoptive mothers.

3. For adoptive mothers/adoptive beneficiary parents: it is mandatory to attach one of the following supporting documents of adoption:
   1. Certificate of Placement of a Minor in an Adoptive Family, issued by the competent body supervising the adoption, through which the date of inclusion of the adoptive child in the family is evidenced, or
   2. Notarial document concluded between the adoptive mother/adoptive parent and the biological parents of the child, in cases of the physical delivery of the child for care and upbringing with a view to adoption by the biological parents to the adoptive mother/adoptive parent, or
   3. Evidence of the date on which the court judgment recognising a foreign judgment for adoption became final, or
   4. Final court judgment on domestic adoption
4. In the case of insured persons who initially exercised their right to leave and benefits in the public sector and are requesting the continuation of benefits for the remaining period from the DYPA, after taking up salaried employment (dependent or salaried mandate) in the private sector: decision or certificate from the competent public body stating the period of the leave during which they were paid by that body, so that the remaining period of the leave for which DYPA will pay the benefit may be calculated (Template of Certificate for Public Bodies).
5. In the case of insured persons with a full-time work schedule of less than 40 hours per week: employment contract (collective or individual, as applicable) or arbitration decision to which they are subject, in order to verify the full-time working hours and calculate the amount payable

In any case, the KPA2 centre is responsible for requesting any additional supporting documents deemed necessary for the issuance of the decision.

Depending on the employment status of the initial beneficiary during the six months preceding the maternity leave, the monthly allowance amounts to:

• the applicable minimum wage for full-time work (i.e. 40 hours per week or shorter full-time working hours in accordance with Article 55(1) of Law 4808/2021)
• half of the applicable minimum wage for cases of part-time/rotating employment, that is, employment:

• up to four (4) hours per day or up to thirteen (13) days per month on average, for work for which 40 hours per week is defined as full-time employment,
• as many hours per day or as many days per month on average, as derived proportionally from the hours/days of the above point, in cases where, under employment contracts (collective or individual) or arbitration decisions, shorter full-time working hours per day and per week are applied.

Holiday Bonuses and Leave Allowance are also paid on the basis of the above amounts.

The duration of the special maternity protection leave is considered as insured time in the pension and sickness branch of the competent insurance institution, as well as in the supplementary insurance branch, and the statutory contributions are calculated on the basis of the amount specified in each case, from which the DYPA withholds the female insured worker’s statutory contribution and disburses it to the competent institutions and the relevant supplementary insurance fund, along with the employer contribution, which is borne by DYPA.

In the event of transfer of part of the leave/benefit to the father, he shall be paid the amount that the working mother would receive based on her own employment status (full-time & part-time) and, if he is an employee, he is insured in the above sectors, while if he is self-employed, he is subsidised with the gross statutory minimum wage without insurance contributions being withheld, and no holiday bonuses or leave allowances are paid.

The benefit is discontinued for the following reasons:

1. the termination in any manner of the employment relationship on the basis of which the beneficiary applied for and received the special maternity protection benefit, unless a new employment contract is concluded consecutively from the termination of the previous employment relationship with any employer (i.e. an extension or renewal of a fixed-term employment contract with the same employer or recruitment by a new employer), and the beneficiary continues to receive the special maternity protection leave, with the obligation to submit a new employer’s certificate for the remaining period, or
2. submission of a relevant request by the beneficiary due to discontinuation of the special leave or for any other reason, or
3. ascertainment of employment of the beneficiary by the employer from whom the special maternity protection leave was received. In this case, the special maternity protection benefit is discontinued from the first day of the month in which the inspection was carried out and thereafter.
4. recruitment and employment by a new employer during the special benefit.

The benefit is NOT discontinued in the case of illness, except in the case of taking new maternity leave (pregnancy – confinement) for another child.

In the event of transfer of the benefit (a) to a father/other parent who is an employee, it is discontinued for the above reasons (b) to a self-employed person, for the relevant reasons applicable to that category.

In the event of discontinuation of the father’s allowance, if the mother continues to fulfil the conditions, she may request that the balance be restored to her within 60 days of the start of the new period of her leave.

Furthermore, in all cases the father’s benefit is discontinued if the mother ceases to be a beneficiary of the benefit in accordance with the above.

In the case of discontinuation of the allowance for any of the above reasons, the benefit cannot be continued.

In the event of a change of status from employee to a self-employed person, in the following cases:

1. parallel status as an employee and self-employed person prior to the granting of the special leave, receipt of the benefit under the status of employee as provided for, and loss of employee status during the duration of the allowance, &
2. employee status exclusively prior to the granting of the special leave, receipt of the benefit as an employee, loss of employee status during the period of the benefit, and acquisition of consecutive self-employed status (i.e. transition from employee status to self-employed status)

the insured person is eligible for the allowance as a self-employed person for the remaining period of the nine months, provided that a relevant request is submitted to DYPA within two (2) months from the day following the loss of employee status.

In the above cases, the right to transfer part of the leave & the benefit to the father or other parent is also retained.

• Article 238 of Presidential Decree 62/2025
• Joint Ministerial Decision 39686/10.07.2024 (GG II/4099/12.07.2024), as in force
• Ministerial Decision 47360/09.05.2023 (GG II/3104/10.05.2023)

Mothers insured with e-EFKA (biological mothers, presumed mothers under Article 1464 of the Civil Code, who acquire a child through the process of surrogacy, and adoptive mothers who adopt a child, from the inclusion of the child in the family and up to the age of eight (8) years) who work as freelance professionals, self-employed persons or women farmers, as derived from their insurance status, are entitled to the special maternity protection benefit for a period of nine (9) months. The beneficiaries of this benefit are also same-sex spouses who adopt a child, in accordance with their joint declaration to e-EFKA. Entitlement to the benefit is established for insured persons who have acquired a child from 24 September 2023 onwards.

The necessary conditions for granting of this benefit are:

• Receipt of the maternity allowance for self-employed persons from e-EFKA, or in the case of adoption, the ‘integration of the child into the family’, or the publication of a final court decision on domestic adoption or recognition of a foreign adoption decision.
• The insurance certificate of the beneficiary at the time of submission of the application and during the period of receipt of the benefit.

It should be noted that insured persons who, from the outset of the granting of the special leave, have the status of both self-employed and employed persons (with a dependent employment relationship or a salaried mandate contract) are included in the relevant provision as employees or salaried workers, regardless of whether they have received maternity benefits as self-employed persons from their insurance institution.

Beneficiary mothers are entitled to transfer up to seven (7) months of the special maternity protection benefit to the father (biological, adoptive or through the process of surrogacy), regardless of whether he works under a dependent employment relationship in the private sector or under a salaried mandate contract, or is a freelance professional, self-employed person or farmer, under the following conditions:

• That they themselves have previously used at least the first two (2) months of the benefit, and
• Parents to whom the right is transferred must meet the necessary conditions based on their own employment status.

The application is submitted through the electronic maternity–parenthood benefit services of DYPA at the following link: https://parentalbenefits.dypa.gov.gr/app/pbnf/r/opsm/esrv/login?sr=02

at any time within two (2) months from the day following the payment (crediting) of the maternity allowance by the relevant insurance institution.

Specifically for adoptive mothers/adoptive parents, the application must be submitted within two (2) months from the day following the child’s integration into the family or the finalisation of the foreign or domestic court decision.

For insured women who gave birth between 24 September 2023 and 18 April 2024, the date of publication of the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision, and who had not submitted their application to DYPA, the deadline for submission was set, exceptionally, at two (2) months from 18 April 2024, and not from the payment of the e-EFKA maternity allowance.

The start date of the benefit is defined as the first (1st) day of the calendar month following the submission of the application. Therefore, if, for example, the application is submitted on 22 April 2025, the start date of the benefit will be entered in the relevant field as 1 May 2025. On the basis of this start date, the periods will also be declared in the case of transfer of part of the right to the father, provided, of course, that the mother, as a self-employed person, herself uses at least the first two months of the benefit (e.g. 1 May 2025 to 30 June 2025), as defined in the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision.

The following supporting documents are required to obtain the allowance:

• The payment/crediting of the maternity allowance by e-EFKA/the relevant insurance institution, mandatory for biological and presumed mothers,
• Valid insurance certificate.

It should be noted that the above information is obtained ex officio through interoperability with e-EFKA/the competent insurance body; therefore, the attachment of the relevant Certificates is required only in cases where electronic retrieval is not possible.

In the case of adoptive parents, it is mandatory to attach one of the following adoption supporting documents:

• Certificate of placement of a minor with a foster family, issued by the competent adoption supervisory body, evidencing the date when the adoptive child was brought into the family; or
• Notarial document concluded between the adoptive mother/adoptive parent and the biological parents of the child, in cases of the physical delivery of the child for care and upbringing with a view to adoption by the biological parents to the adoptive mother/adoptive parent; or
• Evidence of the date on which the court judgment recognising a foreign judgment for adoption became final, or
• Final court judgment on domestic adoption.

The amount paid is equal to the statutory minimum wage per month.

The benefit is discontinued if, during its granting, the insured person a) loses her professional status, or b) is not insured, or c) takes up dependent employment, or d) submits a relevant request.

If the insured person pays the outstanding insurance contributions, they may apply online for the benefit to be reinstated retroactively from the month in which it was interrupted. In any case, the total period of payment of the special maternity protection benefit, following belated payment of insurance contributions, may not exceed twelve (12) months.

Article 151 of Law 5078/2023 (GG I/211), as in force

Joint Ministerial Decision 28843/18.04.2024 (GG II/2293)