STOP PRESS: Changes to voluntary occupational pensions approved
September 2, 2026
The bill "Strengthening occupational insurance: more opportunities for employees and businesses" was approved by parliament and published in the Government Gazette on August 28, 2026, with no significant changes compared to the draft legislation.
Employer Action Code: Monitor
The Greek government is proposing a draft bill to expand access to voluntary Occupational Pension Funds (OPFs) for all employees, strengthen the regulation and governance of insured pension arrangements, and rationalize the tax treatment of plan contributions and benefits. The bill, “Strengthening occupational insurance: more opportunities for employees and businesses,” was submitted to parliament at the end of July.
Key details
The bill’s measures include the following:
- A new standardized insurer-provided Group Insurance Product for Occupational Pension (OAPES) would be established, subject to the same governance, tax and regulatory framework as OPFs. OAPESs are intended to replace Group Insurance Contracts (GICs), which would be deemed to be OAPESs only for the purposes of the bill’s tax provisions, and only until December 31, 2027. The bill does not address the position — including tax treatment — of GICs that are not brought within the OAPES framework by that date, which hopefully will be clarified during the legislative process
- OPFs and OAPESs would be able to obtain authorization from the regulator (i.e., the Bank of Greece) to be categorized as “Open OPFs/OAPESs,” meaning that new employers and professional groups — from any sector or industry — in principle would be able to join them without separate regulatory approval. Currently, membership in OPFs (only 27 exist) is limited to related employers or occupational groups. The change would introduce the possibility of self-employed individuals and smaller employers’ participation in OPFs
- Individual portability of employee pension rights would be allowed between OPFs and OAPESs and between providers, free of charge for the member, as well as group portability (i.e., the transfer of an entire pension plan between OPFs, from an OPF to an OAPES, from an OAPES to an OPF, or between OAPESs)
- As of January 1, 2027, employer and employee contributions to OPF/OAPES up to 35% of an employee’s gross annual income (currently 20%), including bonuses, overtime and other benefits, would be tax-exempt for employees and deductible as a business expense for employers
- Taxation of OPF/OAPES benefits accrued since January 1, 2027, would be linked to the age of the insured when benefit payments begin rather than to years of participation: A 10% tax rate would apply to lump sum payments and a 5% rate to periodic payments for beneficiaries ages 62 to 67, decreasing to 5% and 2.5%, respectively, for beneficiaries age 67 or older. Early withdrawals before age 62 would be taxed according to ordinary income brackets, with limited exceptions. For benefits accrued up to December 31, 2026, the previous tax framework would apply. The bill does not address tax treatment of benefits accrued under GICs not brought within the OAPES framework by 2027
Employer implications
The market for voluntary employer-provided pensions in Greece is small. In 2023, only around 11% of the population were receiving a pension that included supplemental retirement benefits (from individual or group plans). The market for OPFs is even smaller, with only about 55,000 members and total assets under 1% of GDP. In contrast, among companies surveyed by WTW, 61% offer some form of supplemental retirement benefit. The reforms are intended to bridge the gap by making the provision of supplemental retirement benefits the norm regardless of occupation or employer.
If approved in its current or similar form, employers with existing insured arrangements should evaluate tax limits and implications for employees, also considering that the bill doesn’t provide for harmonization of legacy tax treatment. In addition, employers should consider whether to migrate their arrangements to the new OAPES format and assess the impact on funding for legacy DB Group Pension Insurance Products, if any, after the transition period.
