Unemployment benefits

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Domna Michailidou emphasized in an interview on state radio ERA that the increases in the minimum wage are aligned with those in the average salary.

Michailidou underscored that this alignment reflects the government's economic policy.

Almost four years have passed since Congress approved and Donald Trump signed a huge relief bill designed to limit the financial hardship created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The CARES Act did its job.

The acceleration of the process of determining the minimum salary, in order for the increase to be implemented earlier and to support employees in practice, will be one the first interventions by the new Minister of Labor, Domna Michailidou, as she tells Kathimerini.

The National Assembly has given its nod to crucial financial amendments and budgets for the upcoming year, introducing significant changes to social security and health insurance provisions.

A special commission tasked to determine an adequate hike in the minimum wage for more than 7 million workers held a second meeting on June 19.

The first meeting of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission took place on June 13.

Registered unemployment totaled 1,035,580 in March, down 5.2% from March 2022 and down 3.6% from February 2023, the state manpower authority said on Thursday.

More specifically, 533,314 unemployed (51.5% of total) were long-term unemployed, 370,903 were men (35.8%) and 664,677 were women (64.2%).

The new minimum wage of €780 a month has come into force as of April 1, after an increase of 9.4% on the previous level.

Accordingly, the minimum daily wage has also gone up, to €34.84, an increase of €5.80 on its February 2019 rate.

Ferries will remain tied up at ports across Greece February 8-9 after the umbrella union of Greek seamen, PNO, announced a 48-hour strike on Tuesday.

The workers are striking at what they say is the reluctance and refusal of employers to enter into negotiations for the drawing up and signing of new collective labor agreements for 2023.

This assistance is realized within the third package of assistance measures for citizens and the economy.
Unlike the previous two packages, this package included unemployment benefits for the first time.

Turkey has extended a ban on layoffs until the end of June, according to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on April 30.

The measure was introduced 13 months ago to limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employment.
The country previously extended the layoffs ban for two months from March 17.