Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure GR-2020-14/669 – Updated – measures in Greece
Country | Greece , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 30 March 2020 – 06 June 2021 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Employment protection and retention
– Wage flexibility |
Author | Penny Georgiadou (INE GSEE) |
Measure added | 16 April 2020 (updated 27 May 2021) |
By virtue of the Legislative Act 30 March 2020 "Measures to combat the pandemic of coronavirus COVID-19 and other urgent provisions", companies - employers whose operations have been suspended by a public authority order, or by virtue of their Activity Code Numbers (ACN) may pay the Easter Bonus at a time subsequent to that defined by Law (15 April 2020 as it stood until now) but in any case not later than the 30 June 2020.
(Art.19, Legislative Act of 30 March 2020)
Businesses that have been financially affected as per their Activity Code Numbers (ACN) or their operation has been suspended under a state decision, may pay the Easter Bonus at a time subsequent to the defined by Law, however not later than 30 June 2020. All other businesses need to pay the Easter bonus by 15 April 2020. In case of suspension of employment contracts of employees who work for the above-mentioned employers, and provided that the suspension covers a part of the period between 1st of January and 30th of April, Easter Bonus is paid partially by the employer. In this case, the employer is obliged to pay only the proportion of Easter Bonus that corresponds to the actual employment of the employee during the period between 1 January and the time of suspension of the employment contract.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
03 June 2020 |
On 3 June 2020 by a Joint Ministerial Decision (KYA No. 21036/1737/2020), the Government announced that the affected from the pandemic employers, who made use of the job contract suspension measure for their employees, they have to pay themselves the entire amount of the Easter Bonus until 6 June 2021 and after they have submitted the necessary documents, they will receive the State subsidy for the part of the bonus corresponding to the days of the suspension of employment contracts. |
For the year 2020, according to a study carried out by the National Institute of Labour and Human Resources -NILHR – (Thematic Bulletin No. 4-March 2021), the total government’s financial expenditure for the payment of the Easter bonus of the year 2020 has been estimated at €105.464.407 for 185.597 beneficiary employees.
For the year 2021, according to the Minister of Labour, the Easter Bonus for 678,096 workers whose employment contract was suspended and for 22,869 beneficiaries who have worked under the SWH scheme “SYNERGASIA”, will be paid in 28 April 2021.
The payment of the Easter bonus 2021 is covered by the state budget. For the payment have been approved: (a) €105,995.502 for the 678,096 beneficiaries under job suspension and (b) €1,918.950 for the 22,869 beneficiary employees of the “SYNERGASIA” SWH scheme.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Employees in standard employment
|
Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Company / Companies |
No special funding required
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | No involvement | No involvement |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
There is no any involvement of social partners
No involvement
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Payment of Easter bonus may be deferred by companies affected by the pandemic, measure GR-2020-14/669 (measures in Greece), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/GR-2020-14_669.html
Share
19 May 2022
This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries (the 27 EU Member States and Norway).
Publication24 June 2020
COVID-19: Policy responses across Europe
This report aims to present an overview of both large-scale government measures and collective agreements that impact on large groups of workers.
16 June 2022
Throughout 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, specific occupational health and safety rules were reintroduced due to increases in infection rates.
Article16 June 2022
Back to work after COVID-19: Testing, vaccines and green certificates
In the second pandemic year 2021, access to one's place of work was increasingly dependent on providing proof of either having been tested, vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in several countries.
Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.