The EU seasonal workers directive and how Greece applies it
Directive 2014/36/EU leaves member states a range of five to nine months for seasonal work. Greece chose nine, and decides applications within 90 days.
Directive 2014/36/EU of 26 February 2014 governs the entry and stay of third-country nationals for seasonal work. It leaves each member state to set the maximum duration within a range of five to nine months in any twelve month period. Greece chose nine, the ceiling the directive allows.
That choice is not an administrative detail. It decides whether a hotel season in the Dodecanese or a harvest window in Thessaly fits inside one permit or needs a second route. An employer comparing Greece with a destination that applies the five month floor is comparing two different products under one label.
What the directive imposes on every member state
The common floor is narrower than it looks, but the points it fixes are binding.
The application is accompanied by an employment contract or a binding job offer stating the place and type of work, the duration, the remuneration, the hours of work per week or per month and the paid leave. Vague offers do not qualify.
A decision on a complete application is taken within 90 days, a deadline the Greek framework after Law 5275/2026 repeats for the one-stop service.
Seasonal workers enjoy equal treatment with nationals on pay, on termination of the contract and on health and safety at work. A Nepali farm worker in Thessaly is entitled to the same statutory minimum as a Greek in the same post, meaning the 41.09 euro daily wage that applies to manual workers from 1 April 2026 under the decision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Member states must provide for penalties against employers who breach their obligations, including exclusion from the ability to employ seasonal workers at all. The sanction is not only financial.
The directive also requires facilitation for the re-entry of workers who have already worked a season, so the same worker can return year after year without the whole file being rebuilt.
The accommodation rule is the one most often breached
The directive treats housing as a condition of lawfulness rather than a benefit. Where accommodation is provided by or through the employer, three constraints apply: the rent may not be excessive relative to the worker's net remuneration and to the quality of the accommodation, it may not be automatically deducted from the wage, and the employer has to give the worker a tenancy contract or equivalent document setting out the rental terms.
Automatic deduction is the practice checked first. The lawful arrangement is the full wage into the account and a separate payment of rent. The Greek evidencing mechanism, with the declaration certified for authenticity of signature, is set out in worker accommodation in Greece.
| Issue | What the directive sets | What applies in Greece |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum duration | Five to nine months per twelve month period | Nine months |
| Decision deadline | 90 days from a complete application | 90 days, with 50 to 80 days recorded |
| Accommodation evidence | Mandatory | Declaration certified for signature |
| Equal treatment on pay | Mandatory | Statutory minimum, 920 euros from 1 April 2026 |
| Employer sanctions | Mandatory, exclusion possible | Labour Inspectorate fines |
The directive also provides for a complaints mechanism. Member states must ensure a seasonal worker can bring a complaint against the employer, directly or through third parties such as trade unions, including after the worker has left the country. For the employer that means exposure does not close with the season. A dispute over wages owed or over rent deductions can open months after departure, when payroll records are no longer at hand. Keeping payment evidence per worker and per season is cheaper than reconstructing it later.
What it means for planning a season
The directive does not create positions. A member state can comply with every article and still have exhausted its annual quota. In Greece the volume constraint comes from the joint ministerial decision on allocation, covered alongside Greece's bilateral labour quotas, not from the European text.
The failure mode the directive itself produces is the nine month ceiling combined with the three months outside the country. A hotel that keeps seasonal staff from March to November has spent the window, and the same workers cannot return the following February. The calendar is kept per worker and per twelve month period, not per calendar year and not per business. Businesses with near year-round operations often need a mix of seasonal and annual permits.
The two Greek permit categories that implement the directive, with their documents and fees, are set out in the E.6 seasonal permit. The employers page shows how Werklist builds a per worker calendar so the next season's return does not collide with the three month departure.
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