Occupational Pension Insurance Schemes

Voluntary insurance

• Public and private sector employees; farmers. 
• Based on collective agreement with possibilities for opting out or collective labour contract. 
• Main criterion for the establishment of an occupational pension fund is company size: number of employees must be at least 100.

General finances

• Fully funded schemes. 
• No guarantees by the state to cover for any deficits incurred by the scheme. 

Contribution rates

• Contribution rate depends on the terms of the collective agreements.

State support

• Contributions can be deducted from tax.

• Funds are managed by an independent management board elected every 4 years.  
• The Ministry of Employment and Social Insurance Issues, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission and the National Actuarial Authority supervise the occupational scheme.

• The vesting period is 3 years for workers; minimum age for acquisition of pension rights: not older than 21 years.

Pension payments

• Benefits can be provided periodically or as lump sum benefits.
• The amount to be awarded depends on the notional return that is applied to the defined contributions (DC).

Taxation and social security contributions

• Pensions provided as lump sum benefits are not subject to tax; pensions provided periodically are subject to tax.