Greece has introduced a new salary structure for its Security Forces, covering approximately 76,000 personnel, including police officers, firefighters, and coast guard members. The updated pay scale, incorporated into the recently submitted tax bill, provides retroactive increases from October 1, 2025. On average, the raises amount to €111 per month, varying by category and rank.
Key Changes in the Pay Scale
The new structure redefines salary categories, base pay, pay grades, allowances, compensations, and the progression of salaries. Four distinct categories have been established based on the personnel’s origin:
- Category A: Officers from Security Forces academies, direct recruits, transferred officers, or university graduates assigned to special duties.
- Category B: Non-commissioned officers, assistant officers, and officers from academies or other paths, including regular police, firefighters, and coast guard personnel.
- Category C: Special guards, border guards, forest firefighters, and general-duty firefighters from Category D.
- Category D: Trainee guards, border guards, forest and general-duty firefighters on active service.
Each category has 20 pay grades. Promotion from one grade to the next requires three years in the first grade and two years for subsequent grades. Military service or temporary contract work does not count toward this progression unless legally recognized as dependent employment.
Base salaries increase according to rank and category, with coefficients ranging from 1.00 to 1.8.
Allowances and Compensations
In addition to base pay, Security Forces personnel receive:
- Family Allowance: For married personnel and those with children.
- Special Duty and Hazard Allowance: Reflecting risk, readiness, and unscheduled work. For top officers, allowances range from €205 to €490, with additional increments for spouses or children.
- Responsibility Allowance: Paid to personnel with management duties, ranging from €100 to €600 per month depending on rank. Payments stop if duties cease temporarily or permanently.
- Overtime and Night Work Compensation: €46 per extra workday, plus €3–€3.33 per hour for night shifts.
- Frontier Allowance: €130 per month for personnel serving in border regions or specific remote islands.
Special Categories
- Trainee officers receive a percentage of the base salary for Category A during their academy years: 54% in the first year, 56% in the second and third, and 58% in the fourth.
- Trainee police and equivalent personnel in Category B receive 33% of base pay in the first year and 35% in subsequent years.
- Students from the Security Forces retain the full salary corresponding to their current rank
