Social Security

The 60/40 wage support scheme used by the state to pay 60% of the social security contributions and 60% of the salaries will be amended and will continue from July 1 until September 30, Bulgaria's Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva said. 

As of Tuesday, more than 236,000 pensioners will see their auxiliary pensions increased by an average of 75.47 euros, according to estimates by the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA).
The hikes only concern retirees who saw their auxiliary benefits reduced in the summer of 2016 per the so-called Katrougalos law because the sum of their main and auxiliary pensions exceeded €1,300.

The government is planning to lower the amount of the maximum insurable earnings for calculating the monthly insurance contribution of employees and employers, which currently stands at 6,500 euros, alongside the reduction of the rates for social security contributions that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to on Monday.

The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the labor market are now obvious, as data from the Manpower Organization (OAED) showed that the number of registered unemployed rose in April by 211,526 or 21.73% from the same month in 2019.

Self-employed individuals and freelance professionals who pay their April social security contributions on time will get a 25 percent discount, as was also the case with February and March contributions.

Greece's taxes and social security contributions put this country second among the 36 member-states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in terms of dues to the state for workers with children.

More than 156,000 employees from 10, 723 enterprises will keep their jobs thanks to the 60/40 wage support scheme, the Bulgarian Ministry of Labor and Social Policy announced. So far, the National Employment Agency has processed nearly 3,700 applications of Bulgarian employers for state aid which has to cover 60% of the salaries and the social security contributions of over 50,000 workers.

Some 232,000 Turkish businesses affected by the coronavirus economic fallout have made applications to the government for short-time working payments to their 2.7 million employees between March 30 and April 16, according to Family, Labor and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk.

Social security experts and the government are having to consider nightmare scenarios with unemployment above 20 percent and a recession of close to 12 percent once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

Some 19,000 Turkish businesses affected by the coronavirus economic fallout have made applications to the government for short time working payments to their 420,000 employees since March 30.