Termination of employment

Tens of thousands of workers who have secured the right to retirement ahave rushed to submit their pension applications before new social security reform measures go into effect. Experts estimate that at least 40,000 retirement applications have been submitted by civil servants and private sector employees from the start of the year to April.

Turkey's Labor and Social Security Ministry has been examining a number of models, including those in Brazil and Austria, in a bid to update the severance pay system, according to officials.

Labor and Social Security Minister Süleyman Soylu has signaled a series of changes in the job market, from flexible working conditions to severance payments, in a press conference with economy reporters on Jan. 28. 

The new draft bill on social security system that Greek government proposes includes indirect pension cuts of up to 125 euros per month.

According to the newspaper “Eleftheros Typos”, Article 10 of the bill provides the child benefit included in the pension that it will be calculated based on new rates, 8 % for the first child, 10% for the second and 12% for the third child.

Reporters from three dailies, Dnevnik, Untrisnki Vesnik and Vest, have expressed anger over a managerial decision to cut their wages by up to 30 per cent.

Most dispute the explanation that their wages must be cut for the next six months "due to the bad economic situation in the country, which has reflected on the company".

Mario Reljanovic, from the Union University in Belgrade, told BIRN on Thursday that a forthcoming World Bank analysis was likely to establish the criteria for announced layoffs in the public sector.

Greece is about to ratify the 3rd bailout package fro Greece that contains a series of tough measures scheduled to come for voting in the Plenary of Greek Parliament.

The Serbian parliament on Monday discussed the government's legislative proposal for public sector employment which envisages that around 9,000 people will be laid off by the end of 2015, most of them in the education, justice and healthcare sectors.

Over half of Turkish people believe that they will face economic problems after they retire, so most have planned to keep working, according to a survey by AvivaSA and its partner Aviva in 12 countries. 

By Roula Salourou