Employment

This is the first of two stories on how the coronavirus crisis is affecting Poland's economy. See also: Live: Coronavirus Updates

As thousands like Stefaniak reel from the sudden loss of income, critics say the government needs to do more to help workers hit by a slump in economic activity caused by social-distancing policies imposed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labour inspectorates say they do not have the resources to look into a spike in reported abuses.

Early indications in some countries point to layoffs in the thousands. Public sector workers, for now, appear safe, but not necessarily their wages.

All the employers who during this period have applied the measure of temporary suspension of the individual employment contracts, considering the effects of the new coronavirus epidemic, qualify for furlough aid, which will be applied throughout the state of emergency, announced on Friday, Ionel Danca the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery.

The dilemma being faced by thousands of troubled employers across Greece is whether to dismiss employees or suspend their labor contracts instead, as the government is proposing.

The government on Wednesday announced a 3.8-billion-euro package of measures to soften the blow to the economy from the coronavirus epidemic. The package aims to support workers, the self-employed and enterprises, as the first mass layoffs have already been recorded and the risk of a painful recession is looming large.

In connection with the complicated epidemic situation related to the spread of COVID-19 in Bulgaria and the state of emergency declared by the National Assembly, as well as with the recommendations of the National Operational Headquarters, the Minister of Health Kiril Ananiev issued an order introducing the following anti-epidemic measures on the territory of Republic of Bulgaria until 29.03.20

In 2018, 5.2% of employed persons aged 15 to 64 in the European Union (EU) usually worked from home. This share has remained constant at around 5% throughout the last decade. However, over the same period, the share of those who sometimes work from home increased from 5.8% in 2008 to 8.3% in 2018.

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforces during the next quarter. ManpowerGroup's comprehensive forecast of employer hiring plans has been running for more than 55 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world.

While talks between the management and the unionists at OTE are resuming on Thursday, aiming at the signing of a new collective labor contract, it appears the Deutsche Telekom-owned group is entering a fresh period of shrinking both its staff and its operation costs.

Employers are required to pay a minimum double remuneration to employees who work on an official holiday, such as today's December 25, recalled by the Executive agency "General Labor Inspectorate".

The holidays are December 24, 25, and 26, and January 1, 2020 for New Year's Eve.