€500 Christmas Bonus for Public Workers, But Not €500 in Their Pockets

Greece’s public-sector employees will receive a Christmas bonus from December 2027, but the €500 headline figure will not be the amount they take home. The bonus will be paid gross, with net payments ranging from €257 to €389 depending on the employee’s category.

The allowance will count toward regular earnings and pensionable pay. Employees who serve only part of the year will receive it proportionally, based on the months they worked from January 1, 2027. The measure is expected to cover about 720,000 public employees and cost the state budget €433 million a year, including employer contributions.

Public-sector workers are also due to receive pay increases linked to the minimum wage. That wage is expected to rise from €920 now to €1,000 by January 2028 through successive increases in April 2027 and January 2028. The change would add €80 gross per month, or €960 a year, by January 2028.

The article gives examples of how the measures could affect employees. A 40-year-old public employee with two children and a gross monthly salary of €2,000, equivalent to €1,447 net, would receive an additional €562 net in 2027 compared with this year. That would include €327 from the Christmas bonus and €235 from the wage increase over nine months. In 2028, the additional amount would reach €964 net, including €327 from the bonus and €637 from the wage increase over 12 months.

A 29-year-old employee without children earning €1,500 gross, or €1,123 net, would receive an additional €609 net in 2027 and €1,033 in 2028. A 55-year-old employee without children earning €3,000 gross, or €1,956 net, would receive €495 more in 2027 and €841 more in 2028. For a 24-year-old employee without children earning €1,200 gross, or €933 net, the 2027 increase would total €669 net.