Nine questions and answers about DYPA’s new digital tools

Helpful tips about the way in which employed and unemployed people can use the benefits of the Public Employment Service (PYPA), the service gives.

The Ministry of Labor explains the objective of the changes introduced by the ministerial decisions on the Public Employment Service (DYPA) through nine questions and answers. As he points out, the goal is to become more transparent and efficient system of awarding benefits paid by DYPA, to ensure that they are directed to those who are really in need and to facilitate the daily life of the unemployed and their efforts to find a job.

Among other things, the new digital applications of DYPA are mentioned, which are the DYPA Digital Card and the Digital Individual Action Plan, which are made available to the unemployed, through the DYPA Digital Register.

1. What is the goal of the changes introduced by the Ministerial Decisions on DYPA?

The goal is, on the one hand, to make the system of awarding benefits paid by DYPA more transparent and efficient, so as to ensure that they are directed to those who are really in need, and on the other hand, to facilitate the everyday life of the unemployed and their efforts to find a job. In this context, income criteria are established for the provision of benefits (other than unemployment benefit) to those registered on the DYPA register, temporary removal from the register is activated after three refusals of suitable jobs, while work allowance for subsidized unemployed who find work and bonuses are established for the long-term unemployed who are actively looking for work. So the taxpayers’ money, many of whom have lower incomes than those on the unemployment register, will go where it really needs to go. At the same time, the new digital tools of the DYPA, provided for by law 4921/2022 (“Jobs Again – Reorganization of the Public Employment Service”), are made available to the unemployed.

2. What are the new digital applications of DYPA, when will they be available to beneficiaries and how do they facilitate them?

They are the DYPA Digital Card and the Digital Individual Action Plan, which are made available to the unemployed through the DYPA Digital Register. The Digital Register is the evolution of the existing DYPA register to which all registered persons will be transferred automatically – without requiring any action on their part. The Register includes the information that constitutes the resume of the job seeker. The Digital Card replaces the paper one and will be available in the form of a digital application by the end of the year. The Card will be interconnected with the Digital Register, so that the holders of the Card, by showing it, prove to the individual bodies of the Public or private sector that they are the beneficiaries of the benefits, allowances, etc. provided on a case-by-case basis. The Digital Individual Action Plan will include the job seeker’s profile, experience, goals and actions to find a job. Its content will be agreed between the DYPA employment advisor and the job seeker and will be reviewed at least every 6, 12 and 18 months if the unemployed person does not find a job.

3. How are abuse phenomena dealt with?

By establishing income criteria in order for a person registered in the DYPA Digital Register to continue enjoying the aids, benefits and facilities established by the State for unemployed and jobseekers.

According to the data presented, one out of three long-term unemployed are registered in the DYPA registers for more than 5 years, while 40,000 people who are registered in the register for more than a year, have an annual income of more than 20,000 euros. From them:

• 13,000 have an income of more than 30,000 euros,
• More than 15,000 have been on the registry for over 5 years,
• 1,232 with an income of more than 30,000 euros have been registered in the register for more than 10 years.

Besides, research in the Organization’s register revealed specific cases of people who remain registered with the OAED for up to… 20 years (240 months) while declaring incomes of hundreds of thousands of euros per year and residing in expensive areas.

It is a fact that while unemployment is steadily decreasing, the number registered in the DYPA register is not correspondingly decreasing.

The income criteria that apply are the criteria applied for the granting of the heating allowance, i.e.:

• Family income up to 16,000 euros for single, widowed, separated,
• Family income up to 24,000 euros for married couples or parties to a cohabitation agreement increased by 3,000 euros for each child,
• )family income up to €27,000 for single parents, plus an additional €3,000 for each child after the first.

4. Does that mean anyone who has a higher income than these limits will be deleted from the DYPA Register and will not be entitled to unemployment benefits?

The answer is categorically no to both. Firstly, exclusion from benefits does not mean deletion from the DYPA Digital Register nor exclusion from the other services (counseling, training, subsidized jobs, etc.) that DYPA provides to job seekers. Second, unemployment benefit will continue to be paid as it is now, without income criteria.

5. Therefore, which benefits will not be maintained for high incomes and which ones will be maintained as they are?
They are those listed in the table below:

• With income criteria WITHOUT income criteria

• Special assistance after the end of regular unemployment benefit Special assistance for business interruption/removal Unemployment benefit

• Special assistance after a 3-month stay in the Unemployment Register Assistance for those released from prison Possibility of participation in Active Policies (Employment, Training, Counseling)

• Bonus for long-term unemployed €300 Medical care for the unemployed up to 29 years old*

• Social Tourism Programs – Sickness Benefits in Kind for the Unemployed aged 29-55*

• Camp Program – Sickness Benefits in Kind for the Long-Term Unemployed, 55 years and older*

• Spectator Check Program – Optional Long-Term Unemployed Insurance to Establish Old Age Pension Right

• Book Purchase Check Program – Scoring in Public Benefit programs

• Free travel on Public Transport – Free entry to archaeological sites/museums *Legislation for access to the Health system applies

6. What is work allowance and why is it established?

For unemployed people who find work, while receiving unemployment benefit or self-employed unemployment benefit, 50% of unemployment benefit will continue to be paid for as long as it remains until it ends. For example, if the unemployed person finds a job 5 months after the start of his subsidy, which has been approved for 12 months, he will continue to receive 50% of the unemployment benefit for another 7 months. The aim of the regulation is to give a strong incentive to the subsidized unemployed who lost their job a relatively short time ago, to find work and on the other hand to support with additional income those who are actually looking for and finding work.

7. What is the long-term unemployed bonus and what purpose does it serve?

It is planned to pay a one-off monetary benefit of 300 euros to the long-term (over five years) unemployed who draw up a Digital Individual Action Plan, thus effectively activating the job search. This is another motivation for this group in order to deal with the alienation between the DYPA and the long-term unemployed, to restore their contact with both the DYPA and the labor market and also, to find out who really remain long-term unemployed and are really interested in a job. That is, the reactivation in the job search of those who have been disconnected from the labor market for a long time.

DYPA’s services have already started the preliminary work to approach these job seekers, who are estimated at 160-170,000 and they should make an appointment in the next period on DYPA’s digital platform myDYPAlive or at the local Employment Promotion Center with their employment consultant.

8. Why are unemployed people who refuse jobs from DYPA deleted from DYPA registers?

With this regulation, Greece is in line with the official definitions of the International Labor Organization and the European Union, according to which employment promotion policies are based on the concept of a “job seeker”, i.e. a person who is capable, available and willing to undertakes work and proceeds with specific actions to this end. Until now, the phenomenon of persons registered in the unemployment registers, who were either not interested in looking for work, or were reluctant to proceed with any relevant action, was observed. Refusal of a suitable job three times (taking into account that “suitable” is defined as the position that corresponds to the professional status, knowledge, skills, last salary and place of permanent residence of the unemployed person and which has been jointly decided by the unemployed person and the employment advisor) and the refusal to participate in a training activity are manifestations of this very phenomenon, which is attempted to be reversed. It is indeed unjustifiable when someone is unemployed and is offered a job based on his work profile, the characteristics he has declared, corresponding to his last salary and his place of residence, for him to refuse not once, but three times!

The relevant regulations now in force aim to prevent abuse by those who are not looking for work and are based to some extent on Law 1545/1985. In addition, a decision of the Board of Directors of the OAED of March 2018 defines, among other things, the obligations of the unemployed to actively look for work, to consent to suitable jobs, to cooperate with the employment counselor and to participate in training programs.

After all, these regulations are based on the corresponding practices of the Employment services of European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden.

9. In other words, can someone be deleted from the Register while being offered positions that have nothing to do with his previous service and capabilities?

No. It is expressly defined that the positions proposed are “suitable” and the position corresponding to the professional specialty, knowledge, skills, abilities, formal and substantive qualifications, professional goals and place of permanent residence of the jobseeker is defined as appropriate. All this is described in the Digital Individual Action Plan, which is a product of cooperation and agreement between the employment counselor and the person registered in the DYPA Register.

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