Labor Ministry

Insurance companies are demanding the exemption of spending on insurance policies from taxpayers' taxable incomes in a bid to create an additional incentive for people to get covered. This has emerged in the context of the dialogue between the sector's enterprises and the government to strengthen the so-called third pillar, private insurance.

The Labor Ministry intends to correct a considerable distortion of the social security system that has resulted from the introduction of the Katrougalos law. Leading to unreasonably low new pensions, the law is an incentive for undeclared and low-paid employment.

The Labor Ministry is examining a plan that would see the securitization of major debtors' dues to the social security funds and the concession of their management to third parties.

Young workers registering with the new capital-building branch of the auxiliary social security fund (ETEAEP) from 2021 will likely be able to choose at what age - between 60 and 70 years old - they want to receive their auxiliary pensions.

Young workers registering with the new capital-building branch of the auxiliary social security fund (ETEAEP) from 2021 will likely be able to choose at what age - between 60 and 70 years old - they want to receive their auxiliary pensions.

Greece's Labor Ministry is planning to crack down on employers using old and new tricks in order to dodge inspections and get away with breaking labor regulations.
The ministry will not only target employers who haven't registered their employees but also those under-report the hours they work.

The Labor Ministry has included a clause in the government's investment incentives bill, which is currently up for public consultation, aiming to convince thousands of Greeks with debts to social security funds to join a settlement program by September 30. The target is for at least 10 percent of the total 35 billion euros of contributions owed to enter a settlement mechanism.

The government is preparing to make fresh interventions in collective labor contracts, labor relations and union representation. The Labor Ministry has already processed a series of regulations that will be the main pillar of the new investment incentives bill, expected in Parliament in the next few days.

Last month was the best August in five years as far as hirings in Greece were concerned, coinciding with peak tourist season.

The leadership of the Labor Ministry is considering introducing an "exemption clause" for the obligatory implementation of a sector-specific collective labor contract for companies on the verge of shutting down. It is possible that such a regulation will be included in the draft law for investment incentives to be tabled in Parliament this week.