People in need of finding an OAED office to file for unemployment, register with the job search division or otherwise access services may have difficulty because the OAED website provides limited information in Greek and no practical information in English). The phone book only lists a few locations, and map books don’t provide markers or a convenient list.

One option is to call ‘1564′ and inquire OR look below to find the one nearest you. Please note that these are central offices where your papers are filed and an OAED card is issued. The office where you will be issued checks and have them stamped each month may or may not be in the same building, and you will be informed accordingly. I’m told that people without an office nearby either forgo filing a claim or travel to the nearest town or island of their choice and make other arrangements with OAED.

In Athens:

Acharnes
B. Pagona 22
13671 Acharnes
(210) 244-4988

Agia Paraskevi
Mesogeion 452
15342 Agia Paraskevi
(210) 639-6831

Agio Anargyro
Amorgou 5
13451 Kamatero
(210) 238-2454

Aigaleo
Plapouta 11
12243 Aigaleo
(210) 531-9550

Alimos
D. Gounari & Koumoundourou
17456 Alimos

Ambelokipi
Eslin 3
11523 Ambelokipi
(210) 644-5678 or 644-5647

Athinon
Peiraios 52
10436 Athens
(210) 524-0353

Dafni
Agiou Dimitriou 19
17343 Dafni
(210) 976-9827

Elefsina
P. Eth. Odos Athinon & Thivon
19600 Mandra
(210) 556-0669

Glyfada
Bouliagmenis 107
16674 Glyfada
(210) 963-6618

Ilion
Menelaou 86 & Athinas
13122 Ilion
(210) 261-1606 or 261-1655

Kaisariani
Ag. Fanouriou & B. Laskou 32
11633 Pangrati
(210) 701-2831 or 701-5079

Kallithea
Matzagriotaki 57
Kallithea 17673
(210) 956-8888 or 951-0562

Keratsini
Kiou 5 & M. Asias
18756 Keratsini
(210) 401-5308

Marousi
Palaiologou 9
15124 Marousi
(210) 806-7255

Moschato
Thessalonikis & Artemidos 21
18345 Moschato
(210) 940-0463

Nea Ionia
Alekou Panagouli 50
14251 Nea Ionia
(210) 275-1984 or 271-7147

Neo Kosmos
Leof. Kallirois 31
11743 Neo Kosmos
(210) 923-4200 or 923-4217

Nikaia
Kaisareias 136 & Kilikias 51
18450 Nikaia
(210) 491-9449 or 490-3080

Pallini
Leof. Marathonos 115
15351 Pallini
(210) 606-6914

Patissia
Ag. Lavras 9
11143 Patissia
(210) 201-8565 or 202-9655

Peiraia
Mavromixali 21 & Methonis 19
18545 Peiraias
(210) 412-4665 or 412-4915

Peristeri
Bas. Alexandrou 69
12131 Peristeri
(210) 574-0114

In or near Thessaloniki:

25th Martiou
Thermaiikou 43
55133 Kalamaria
2310 486791

Ionia Thessaloniki
Leof. Iasonidou 21
57008 Ionia Thessaloniki
2310 782374

Neapoli
Langada 117-119
56123 Ambelokipi/Thessaloniki
2310 727295 or 725984

Pylis Axiou
Tantalou 32 & Afroditis
54629 Thessaloniki
2310 554419

Thessaloniki
Dodekanisou 10A
54626 Thessaloniki
2310 554402 or 554417

Touba
Papanastasiou 90
54644 Touba
2310 912835 or 902530

Elsewhere on the Mainland:

Agrinio
Papastratou 61
30100 Agrinio
26410 32343 or 49635

Aigio
Papagiotopoulon 9
25100 Aigio
26910 25154

Alexandroupoli
14th Maiou 30
68100 Alexandroupoli
25510 25646

Arta
Perifereiaki Odos
47100 Arta
26810 26518

Dolemaida
Parmenionos 3
50200 Dolemaida
24630 54909

Drama
Perikleous Kavda 6
66100 Drama
25210 48726

Edessa
Ioustinianou 11
58200 Edessa
23810 20629

Florina
3rd km Odos Florinas & Nikis
53100 Florina
23850 28573

Grebena
Th. Ziaka & Aristeidou
51100 Grebena
24620 28382

Halkida
Neofytou 30
34100 Halkida
22210 60303

Igoumenitsa
Ag. Apostolon 142
46100 Igoumenitsa
26650 28829

Ioannina
N. Dosiou 6
45333 Ioannina
26510 73007 or 75474

Kalamata
Asproxoma Odos
24100 Kalamata
27210 99820 or 99830

Karditsa
Trikalon 226
43100 Karditsa
24410 77302 or 22777

Kastoria
Dalipi 18
52100 Kastoria
24670 21501

Katerini
T. Terzopoulou – End of street
60100 Katerini
23510 22820

Kavala
Perigiali 2
65201 Kavala

Kilkis
G. Argyriou 16
61100 Kilkis
23410 70043

Kozani
Makrigianni 22
50100 Kozani
24610 34022

Komotini
Xilia Dendra 126
69100 Komotini
25310 29973

Korinthos
Eth. Antistasis 86A
20100 Korinthos
27410 84878

Lamia
Megali Brysi
35100 Lamia
22310 31444

Lavrio
Fleming 24
19500 Lavrio
22920 25366

Libadeia
Karagiannopoulou 118 & Drosini
32100 Libadeia
22610 23823

Megara
26th Octobriou & Silimbrias
19100 Megara
22960 81975

Nafplio
Agapitou 10
21100 Nafplio
27520 28386

Nea Moudania
Plateia Omonias 8
63200 Nea Moudania
23730 25418

Orestiada
Konstantinoupoleos 62
68200 Orestiada
25520 24459

Patra
Agiou Andreou 45
26221 Patra
2610 630631

Polygiros
Polytechneiou 7
63100 Polygiros
23710 23369 or 24875

Preveza
Massalias & Tsavella
48100 Preveza
26820 21220 or 21312

Pyrgos
Katakolou & Riga Feraiou
27100 Pyrgos
26210 30462 or 36183

Serres
Dimogeronton 4
62124 Serres
23210 51740 or 51803

Sparti
Leonidou 73
23100 Sparti
27310 81823

Thiva
Pelopidou & Aggelidi
32200 Thiva
22620 29205

Trikala
Ioulietas Adam 21
42100 Trikala
24310 39915 or 22099

Tripoli
End of Karaiskaki Peroxi Sechi, Ag. Georgios
22100 Tripoli
2710 243691

Veria
Odos Pros Nosokomeio
59100 Veria
23310 73353 or 73301

Volos
Dimitriados 9
38333 Volos
24210 35375 or 33091

Xanthi
Laxanokipon 2
67100 Xanthi
25410 20175 or 29609

On the Islands:

Alikarpnassos
Irodotou 150
71601 Nea Alikarpnassos
2810 222489

Crete - Agios Nikolaou
Lasithiou 59
72100 Agios Nikolaou
28410 82900

Crete - Hania
Apokoronou 68-70
73100 Hania

Crete - Irakleio
Arxiepiskopou Makariou & Faitaki 2
71002 Irakleio
2810 342095 or 330295 or 330614

Crete - Rethymno
Dimokratias 36
74100 Rethymno
28310 27131

Kerkyra
Kon/nou Zabitsanou 17
49100 Kerkyra
26610 20270 or 39600

Mitilini
Terpandrou 2
81100 Mytilini
22510 41601

Rodos
Th. Sofouli 93
85100 Rodos
22410 44590 or 44585

Syros
Kimolou 5
84100 Syros
22810 83757

Related posts

“Who can collect unemployment benefits from OAED?”
“How to file a claim with OAED“
“How to qualify for additional benefits with OAED“

Article updated March 12, 2008

I don’t like to use this site as a channel for venting, in fact I try to add humor and an anecdote that will hopefully help others. Here’s hoping this article does that.

My job with my ex-boss ended in 2006 when he said my position was being eliminated. Yeah OK, try again.

Let’s look at the facts:
a) I was the only university educated native English speaker on staff with previous experience (our business depended on perfect English),
b) I performed 12 of 12 tasks in half the time, while other workers did only 1 of 12 tasks on an assembly line,
c) I doubled their volume and halved their turnaround, and
d) I doubled their profit since being hired (I have stats), which helped them open two additional offices that were almost fully paid for when I left. Even performing 12 of 12 tasks, I produced 34% of all of our work alone in comparison to 10 other girls who did the other 66% combined. Yes, I have proof of that too.

Add to that I was never late, worked overtime to earn comp time to handle time away from the office for bureaucracy, never used the phone for personal reasons during business hours and never snitched on co-workers when they were smoking, having coffee or talking to friends. I beat out 100 people, interviewed three times and took a test to get this job.

From the first week I worked there, the writing was on the wall. My boss called me a “liar” when I told him about the bureaucracy I needed to complete to change my status from independent to salaried worker as a non-EU citizen. He followed this by making me the only person without a key to the office — thus making it necessary to wait for less senior people to let me in when they arrived 10-15 minutes late every day — and criticized anything he thought was an English error. Producing evidence to defend myself and disprove my bosses only made them more angry.

Criticizing my English was unfounded, not only because they were non-native English speakers born and raised in Finland and Greece, but also because other people on staff from America, Canada and the UK had up to 300 errors, while I had none or an occasional 1 or 2. Considering I had 12 jobs to do while others had only one, I thought it was logical I could be tired and make one error. Nevertheless, I was called “stupid, incompetent, peasant, unskilled, uneducated, a disappointment and an amateur,” while others were told to “be more careful.”

Did I mention that I was the only non-Greek in my office? Maybe it was a coincidence. Did I mention that everyone in my office, every Greek person I spoke with and the epitheorisi (labor office) believed my bosses hated me for personal reasons, but perhaps tolerated me because of my work ethic and the money I raised? Why did I stay? Simple — I have bills, I am a non-EU citizen in need of a work permit to stay, and I have no safety net.

Skipping ahead two years, my boss refused to admit that he owed me 21 days vacation and a raise in my salary by the lawful minimum (never mind merit). He told me I was “stupid, uninformed and wasting his time,” despite producing official documents from the epitheorisi (labor office), where I was advised of this information.

As he moved other staff to the new and bigger offices, I was left alone in the old office with another girl he disliked. We didn’t know the address or phone number of either office and eventually had to bring our own toilet paper because none was provided or purchased when we alerted him over several weeks. This was one action in a long line of attempts to force my resignation, and I refused to give in. When some of my responsibilities were delegated to someone else, I knew it was just a matter of time before the axe fell. And when it did, I was happy, not surprised and “allowed to finish my work and leave.” Wow, thanks!!!

I knew that I was due money and essential papers to file for unemployment at OAED, so I chased them down after weeks passed and there was no communication. Three weeks later, he answers one of my e-mails with a sentence that set an appointment, which he assumed was fine with me without first checking.

Bringing a Greek friend with me and literature from the epitheorisi, he again denied owing me vacation time, again called me a “liar,” dared me to file a claim against him and again told me we were wasting his time. He also told me I was never an editor or proofreader, just an ordinary office worker.

Upon seeing the photocopy he told me was sufficient for OAED, my friend and I protested that we need the original. Again, name calling and no original and no money. We were forced to return to the office thrice more and have OAED talk to him until the correct document was produced.

I filed a claim against him since he dared me and, months later at the epitheorisi, he was forced to pay most of what he owed and accused me of cheating him. I found this accusation ironic since I only claimed two-thirds of what he owed (14 days) as a goodwill gesture. IKA also determined he owes me a month’s ensima, but I decided to let it go because I don’t want to see his face again. So it’s over, right? Wrong.

When I saw him at the epitheorisi, he told me my taxis paper wasn’t ready and he’d call me when it was. By law, February 15 was his deadline. He never called. Since my tax forms arrived around Easter, I did not press him about the readiness and whereabouts of my taxis paper until then. No answer. I call again on April 16 and leave a message. No answer. I call again on April 25 and leave a message that it’s getting late and now need it sent or delivered directly to my accountant located within blocks of his office.

Today, Wednesday May 2, I finally get word through his secretary that he won’t send it. I’m required to come to the office and sign for my taxis paper or certify a document allowing a representative to get it for me. It’s not his problem that I live nowhere near his office, need to take time off of work to arrange a special trip and my tax deadline is Monday. It’s MY fault for not getting it sooner. Did I have telepathic powers to know the paper was ready? Haven’t I been calling for the past month? Did I know that he had a secret wish to have me sign for it?

Please!

So what’s the morale of this story? If any relationship starts off badly, it’s likely to stay that way or get worse so it’s best to get out. People don’t change, you can only change yourself, so don’t try to be nice, don’t try to understand and don’t try to fix it, there’s nothing you can do but save yourself.

Story continues in “Wanted: Woman with telepathic power.”
__
The lovely Greek flag clock can be purchased from the greekboston.com online store for all of your nationalistic or Greek time needs

According to the National Statistics Service, fewer babies are being born in Greece each year and the influx of immigrants is supplying sustenance for a growing aged population.

The number of Greeks over the age of 65 — eligible for retirement and a pension — represented 18.3 percent of the population versus 14.8 percent in 1994. Birthrates decreased steadily in the same period with Greek mothers giving birth to 1.31 children in 2005; the overall rate was 1.34 children when including non-Greeks. In order for a country to keep population levels steady, childbirth rates per mother need to be at least 2.1.

While statistics show that immigrants contribute significantly to social funds and rarely utilize them, the birthrate and aged population data combined with the recent pension scandal raises concerns about the country’s social security system. This is supported by data from the Bank of Greece that sustaining local pension funds will be among the highest in the EU by 2050.

The NSS figures also reflect changing social attitudes. Greek women are marrying at a later age compared to 14 years ago, with the average now at 28.1 years old (up from 24.1 in 1981).

Why?

What the article didn’t mention was WHY there are fewer children, which is the bigger and more important issue.

It’s no secret that Greece has one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU, coupled with the lowest salaries if you do have a job. Add to this a growing rate of inflation in which annual salary increases don’t keep pace, below standard health care and social services, and an inflated housing market that rivals the most expensive cities in America. It’s a tough, unsupported road ahead to have two children or even one.

Many of my Greek friends are working professional couples with only one child and no plans for another. They don’t see how they’ll manage with two children because there’s an issue of child care — their parents are aging and cannot help care for young children/babies, there’s no government assistance, and they need two salaries to meet expenses so one of them cannot stay home full-time.

There is also the issue of public schools and universities, namely if the curriculum keeps pace with the rest of the world in order for future graduates to be competitive. Just looking at stats for PC competency, let alone Internet use, Greece lags far behind the rest of the EU. Many see private school as the solution, albeit expensive.

Perhaps the NSS should look at the outflux of nationals who left Greece to give birth in a country that does offer more opportunities, less corruption, higher salaries, competitive prices and quality social services…a “better life.” Perhaps Greece should look internally for answers and not externally to Greek mothers.

For related articles, see “Economy.”