Labor Ministry

The hotel, food service and retail sectors in Cyprus have recorded over 12,000 vacancies, prompting the relevant professional associations to jointly appeal to the island's Labor Ministry in favor of simplified procedures for hiring staff from third countries.

Greece's Migration Ministry tabled on Friday an amendment to a Labor Ministry bill which foresees granting a three-year stay and work permit to migrants who have entered Greece irregularly and reside in the country.  

The Greek labor market showed strong resistance in July, as although the end of the school term and classes in private education resulted in the loss of 25,867 jobs in the sector and a total of 8,294 jobs across the economy, in the seven months of January to July a historic record was set with regard to hiring versus layoffs, with the creation of 296,624 new jobs.

The Labor Ministry is bringing significant changes to the digital work card, as well as providing incentives to speed up its use by businesses.

Its objectives remain the containment of undeclared labor and transparency in terms of employment, but ways are being sought to limit the bureaucratic hurdles that often make it difficult to properly implement the measure.

The Labor Ministry released guidelines for employers on Monday, ahead of the heatwave expected to hit Greece this week. The heatwave, dubbed CLEON, is expected to last at least six days and has been classified as a dangerous weather phenomenon.

A fairer system envisaging a more proportionate burden on working pensioners, so that the declaration of employment is not a disincentive, is expected to be announced in Parliament on Thursday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the context of the presentation of his government's program.

One of the first actions of the new leadership of the Labor Ministry will be the continuation of an emblematic reform that concerns the extension of the digital work card, initially to state companies and industries and then to tourism and food service.

Setting the minimum salary at 950 euros per month, from €780 today, and the average at €1,500 from €1,176.5 in end-2022 and €1,184 in end-May, is one of the key objectives of New Democracy, which is widely expected to win another four-year term in the elections this Sunday.

Almost 1,200 pension applications are being processed per day by the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA), while last month, according to data from the Labor Ministry's Helios database, almost 30,000 new pensions were paid out.

A commission is set to hold its first meeting later this week to discuss a hike in minimum wages for millions of workers.

Representatives from the government, labor union Türk-İş and the Turkish Confederation of Employers' Association (TİSK) will gather on June 13 at the Labor Ministry.