Its extension productivity bonus is Santa’s gift to civil servants for the new year.

After the successful pilot application in specific categories of employees, it is time for the incentive and reward system to be applied to the staff of more agencies and services with the aim of enhancing productivity in reforms and general high-priority projects.

The beneficiaries

Beneficiaries of the new system are civil servants who, due to their competence, implement specific objectives of the government program and who belong to bodies that fall under the target setting – evaluation (such as ministries, municipalities, regions, hospitals), as well as military personnel of the Armed Forces and uniformed personnel of the Security Forces.

The reward will be a result of achieving specific and measurable results. The reward targets of public bodies are determined at the beginning of the year after being processed by the Incentives and Rewards Committee, which is made up of service executives and the relevant general secretaries, based on the priorities of each ministry. The bonus will be given to the employees of the agencies that have achieved the goals and if they themselves have contributed to their achievement.

The degree of achievement of the objectives to be rewarded is calculated with specific performance indicators. These indicators, as well as the documentary material proving the progress of the achievement of the selected objectives, are recorded in the Reward Information System. This is an online database maintained by the Ministry of the Interior, through which the fair application of the bonus is ensured.

The amount that each body will receive to be distributed to the employees who are entitled to it, is calculated using specific mathematical formulas that are listed in the relevant law 5149/24 of the Ministry of the Interior.

The selection of the employees and the amount of the reward per beneficiary is carried out by their supervisors based on their contribution to the achievement of the specific objectives.

40% of the final reward amount is distributed equally, while the remaining 60% is given in relation to the contribution of each beneficiary to the operation and work of the service.

The amount of the bonus will reach up to 15% of the annual basic salary every year, it will be subject to the insurance contributions and other deductions of the additional salaries and it will be paid once.

The amount will be credited to the employees within the next three months from the date of issuance of the deed of verification of the minister (or the head of the organization) with the beneficiaries and the amounts, provided by the end of April of the following year from the year of implementation of the objectives.

The National Transparency Authority will carry out spot checks to see if the distribution of the bonus is fair.

Those who are on holiday or suspended from duty, those who have been finally convicted of specific offenses or have been finally imposed any disciplinary penalty are not entitled to the reward. The payment of the reward is suspended by the initiation of criminal or disciplinary proceedings and in case of final acquittal, the amount is paid retroactively.

The annual budget for monetary rewards amounts to 40 million. euros, compared to 20 million euros which was the total amount of the pilot application, which concerned three categories of employees: those who contributed to the implementation of the annual action plans of the ministries, those who were involved in projects of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” and those who worked to achieve fiscal goals.