Social Security

Circulars issued by the Labor and Social Security Ministry late last Friday have thrown many current pensioners and people approaching retirement into uncertainty and despair, as the amount that those who retired after May 13, 2016 are set to receive has been significantly reduced.

The EKAS allowance for low-pension retirees will be reduced by 50 percent, according to a decision by alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Houliarakis and deputy Minister for Social Security Tasos Petropoulos that was published Wednesday in the government gazette.

The move will reduce the cost of the EKAS in the 2017 budget by 421 million euros.

Unemployment is going from bad to worse in Greece as the number of unemployed people registered with the Manpower Organization (OAED) continued to grow in November. This has generated strong concerns since the reduction trend observed in the summer has been reversed.

The new social security system, legislated by former Labour Minister George Katrougalis will change drastically as of January 1, 2017 for thousands of employees and pensioners. Some of the changes that will take affect from the new year include:

According to data released by the Hellenic Statistical Services (ELSTAT), 820,000 jobless Greeks are long term unemployed. They make up the 73.8% of the total of unemployed people in Greece, according to the figures reported in newspaper “Ta Nea”, while the report says that 9 out of 10 jobless people are completely in the margins as they are not receiving any kind of financial benefit.

According to a proposal of the European Commission, Bulgarians entitled to unemployment benefits will receive these from Bulgaria for 6 months even if they are looking for work abroad.

The announced reform in the coordination of the social systems among the 28 member-states determines who is responsible for the payment of benefits.

Approximately 650,000 farmers are expected to receive notices for their new hiked contributions covering the first half of 2016. Following a series of changes and tweaks, the new system for calculating contributions for professionals, farmers and scientists will take effect as of January 1, 2017.

Personal debts worth 77.6 billion Turkish Liras ($22.7 billion) have been restructured in line with a law on the Restructuring of Certain Public Receivables, also referred to as the "Tax Amnesty," Finance Minister Naci Ağbal said Nov. 28. 

The uncontrolled growth of flexible forms of employment in Greece is like a ticking time bomb that could see the country's social security system deficit shoot sky high, generating additional needs of 65.6 billion euros by the end of 2055.

The budget of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) was adopted at first reading by Parliament.

77 of the 133 MPs present voted "for". 19 of BSP deputies and 10 of DPS deputies were "against". The Patriotic Front, who were "against" the draft budget during the debates, finally abstained excluding one.