Applications for seasonal benefits up to €1,438 have been opened in Greece: who can receive the money

In Greece, on September 10 at 11:00, applications for the DYPA special seasonal allowance for 2026 opened: Representatives of a number of professions can receive a one-time payment from €719 to €1,438.

Applications are accepted in electronic form until 14:00 Monday, November 30, 2026. You can submit them through the state portal gov.gr.

To do this, you need to go through the following sections of the portal:

“Work and insurance” (Εργασία και ασφάλιση) → “Unemployment” (Ανεργία) → “Special seasonal allowance DYPA” (Ειδικό εποχικό βοήθημα ΔΥΠΑ).

From September 23, applications will also be accepted by Citizen Service Centers KEP. There is no need to visit local KΠΑ2 employment offices to apply for benefits.

Other government payments, benefits and social support measures are collected in a special section “Benefits, subsidies, assistance” on our website.

This is not a regular unemployment benefit.

Special seasonal allowance is a separate annual payment for workers in professions in which employment objectively depends on the season, the number of orders or the duration of work.

The recipient does not have to remain unemployed for the entire year. The main factors are the profession, compulsory insurance in e-EFKA and the number of insurance days accumulated during the previous calendar year – in this case for 2025.

The rules for assigning regular benefits and registering unemployed status are different. You can read more about this in the material “How to obtain unemployed status and benefits in Greece”.

Who can receive seasonal allowance

The benefit is intended for workers employed in Greece who are subject to compulsory e-EFKA insurance and work in one of the professional categories established by law.

The list includes:

• builders, quarry and lime production workers;
• manufacturers of bricks, tiles and ceramics;
• forest workers and resin collectors;
• tobacco and shoe workers;
• musicians who are members of the relevant professional union;
• ship repair zone workers;
• operators and assistant operators of earthmoving, lifting, road and drilling equipment;
• actors and dancers;
• film and television technicians;
• projectionists and their assistants;
• controllers, cashiers and ticket takers of theaters and cinemas;
• tourism and catering workers;
• live audiovisual event technical staff;
• emery mine workers.

Recipients can also include employees of temporary employment agencies sent to work in tourism and catering establishments. The employer’s membership in the relevant sector is determined by the economic activity code indicated in the employee’s individual insurance account.

Payment amounts

The amount of the benefit depends on the profession and the number of insurance days registered in 2025.

• €1,064.12 – builders, quarry and lime production workers with from 95 to 210 countable insurance days exclusively in the relevant industry;
• €1,006.60 – manufacturers of bricks, tiles and ceramics, forest workers, resin collectors and tobacco workers if available from 50 to 210 days;
• €1,006.60 — hired workers of the ship repair zone if available from 50 to 230 days;
• €719 — musicians, shoemakers, actors, film, television, theater, tourism and catering workers, as well as most other categories included in the program;
• €1,438 — emery mine workers with 50 to 240 insurance days.

For tourism and catering sector workers, at least 75 insurance days for 2025. However, no more than 50 of them can occur in the period from October 1 to December 31.

General requirements

For most professional categories, the total number of insurance days for 2025 for all specialties should not exceed 240.

In addition, the applicant must maintain the status of an employee in the relevant industry during the benefit payment period – from September 10 to November 30, 2026.

This status can be confirmed by existing employment relationships or the presence of insurance days in the relevant specialty during this period. Parallel work in another industry does not in itself deprive a person of payment if he continues to work in his main seasonal specialty.

Who won’t get the money

With the exception of construction workers, benefits are not paid to those who qualify for regular unemployment benefits between September 10 and November 30, 2026. It does not matter whether the person submitted a separate application for his appointment or not.

There is an exception for builders: they can simultaneously receive special seasonal benefits and regular unemployment benefits if they separately fulfill the conditions of both programs.

We spoke in detail about the new system of payments to the unemployed and the amount of benefits up to €1,295 in separate material.

The benefit is also not provided:

• those who were already pensioners on September 10, 2026;
• those who served in military service on this date;
• participants of certain DYPA vocational training programs with a training manual, the main part of which falls on 2026;
• persons under 18 years of age – with the exception of construction workers, for whom the minimum age is 15 years.

If a person has retired or enlisted in the military since 9/11, eligibility may remain as long as other conditions are met.

Special rules for builders

To receive benefits, a builder must work exclusively on construction work during 2025.

The established range of 95 to 210 insurance days includes a 20 percent premium and corresponding vacation days. In fact, we are talking about 73–163 days actually worked.

In addition, the applicant must not have been a contractor or subcontractor of construction work in 2025 that employed more than three employees.

What documents may be required

DYPA verifies most of the data independently through government information systems.

Additional documents need to be attached only in certain cases:

• for citizens of third countries – a valid residence permit or confirmation of filing an application for its extension with the right to access the labor market;
• musicians, dancers and technical workers of live events – a certificate from the relevant professional union;
• operators of construction and lifting equipment – a professional permit, and their assistants – confirmation of the right to work as an assistant operator.

Legislative basis for payment

The special seasonal benefit is not a one-time 2026 program. This is a permanent mechanism to support seasonal workers, based primarily on Articles 22 and 37 of Law No. 1836/1989.

The payment procedure was subsequently supplemented by laws No. 2081/1992, No. 2224/1994, No. 2434/1996 and No. 2556/1997as well as Article 14 of Law No. 3762/2009 and Article 54 of Law No. 4554/2018.

Ministerial decisions No. 30659/31.03.1989, No. 31353/07.06.1989, No. 32021/06.10.1989, joint decision No. 65646/1026/02.10.2008, decision No. 56779/1330/30.10.2018 and later also apply regulations.

A complete list of current grounds, industry requirements and documents is published in the official section DYPA on special seasonal benefit.

When to expect a decision

After submitting the application, DYPA will check the insurance days, profession and fulfillment of other conditions. The decision will be available through the electronic services of the employment service.

In 2025, about 80 thousand people.

Self-employed people who have ceased their professional activities should take into account that a separate program applies to them. Terms of payment of €565 per month for up to nine months are published in the article “Unemployment benefits for self-employed people in Greece”.

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