Employment compensation

OAEE, the social security fund for the self-employed, has seen its deficit increase and is again asking for additional financing via the special reserves of the Social Security Capital for the Solidarity of Generations (AKAGE).

The International Committee of experts suggests scheduled reductions, as well as flexible contracts, the so-called “zero hour contracts”, with an allowance from the State as an alternative solution instead of collective redundancies in case a business faces an economic difficulty. For the same reason further salary reductions are requested in the following cases:

Reduced working hours or even suspension, with the state paying unemployment benefit and covering workers' social security while they are not working, are the proposals of a panel of experts on labor issues.

A series of cuts in three categories of beneficiaries are expected in pensions, that will start being paid on Thursday.
The three categories are the beneficiaries of ancillary pensions who are included in the third reductions package, the divident beneficiaries and the double pensioners, due to withholdings increase over EOPYY.

The plan to not reduce the minimum wage due to the rise in income taxes will cost the state budget 1 billion Turkish Liras ($336 million), said a top official in a televised interview on Sept. 21. 

Despite the pensioner’s patience, IKA’s deficit is doubled by the reduction of Government Funding. The administration of the Social Security Foundation (IKA) revealed that the deficit will be 2.1 Billion Euros for 2016, from 950 millions  last year.

The Turkish cabinet has pledged to not decrease the minimum wage due to the increasing cuts in incomes, said a leading official on Sept. 19. 

Turkey raised the minimum wage by 30 percent to 1,300 Turkish Liras ($436) for over 8 million workers at the beginning of the year.

The new method of recalculating more than 1 million auxiliary pensions has brought with it errors that are costing pensioners dearly.

The three-year budget forecast envisages a gradual increase of the minimum monthly wage to BGN 460 during 2017 as well, stated Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.

Despite the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras’s claim that he had managed to ’square the circle’ during his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Sunday, the numbers paint a different story regarding the cuts in pensions. Half of the Greek pensioners (1.2 million) saw a cuts in their meagre incomes ranging from a few Euros to 230 Euros (abolition of the EKAS benefit).