Approximately 64,000 are the number of working pensioners who have so far declared their employment on the electronic platform and, with the implementation of the new institutional framework, will receive, from the beginning of 2024, their pension in full and not 70%, which received until the end of 2023, while there is a 10% withholding on their salary.

With this measure, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security attempts to give incentives to those pensioners who are able and willing to work to rejoin the labor market, immediately increasing their disposable income, but also, in the future, their pension.

Speaking to APE-MPE, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Domna Michailidou, declares that, with the launch of the online platform, within a single week, 27,000 retired workers rushed to declare their employment, ensuring that they will receive 100% of their pension. In the second week, registrations on the working pensioner platform exceeded 40,000, and today the number exceeds all expectations, approaching 64,000.

As Mrs. Michailidou explains, “beyond the main goal, which was none other than the restoration of a great injustice that “criminalized” the work of pensioners, withholding significant amounts from their pension, the success of the measure also marks the achievement of three of important objectives: the drastic treatment of their undeclared work, the provision of incentives to qualified professionals to return to the labor market, contributing the most to the economic activity of the country and increasing revenue for the state, through the expansion of the tax base with lower rates ».

“Today, we can now clearly talk about a big profit, with recipients both the pensioners themselves and the country’s economy” underlines the Minister of Labor.

The process

The employed pensioner must submit a relevant declaration on the e-EFKA website (https://www.efka.gov.gr/dilosi-erg-synt.php), in which both the assumption of employment and the fulfillment of the conditions are declared for the exemption from the payment of a resource in favor of e-EFKA or from the payment of insurance contributions.

In particular, the electronic service states the date of commencement of employment as a pensioner, the type of pension or the submission of an application for retirement and the employment category, as well as the possible presence of the conditions for exemption from the obligation to pay a resource in favor of e-EFKA. Indicatively, it is stated that certain population groups are excluded from the withholding of the new resource of 10% on EFKA salaries, such as, among others, people with a mental disability, those receiving the extra-institutional allowance, those with many children and pensioners due to disability. Also, those employed by a General Government body are excluded from the resource, for whom, however, pension suspension is provided until the age of 62.

As the Ministry of Labor and Social Security has clarified, employed pensioners are required to pay an e-EFKA fund, which is as follows:

a) Employees pay a fund for e-EFKA, in the amount of 7.7%, on the insurable earnings of the main insurance for the main insurance sector and other benefits and, in the amount of 2.3%, on the insurable earnings of the subsidiary insurance for the subsidiary insurance sector , which is borne exclusively by the insured.

b) The self-employed (freelancers and self-employed) pay a fund for e-EFKA, in the amount of 50%, on the chosen insurance category of main insurance for the main insurance and benefits sector and in the case of belonging to the auxiliary insurance, in the amount of 40%, on the selected main insurance insurance category for the main insurance and other benefits sector and 40% on the selected supplementary insurance insurance category for the subsidiary insurance sector.

c) Farmers pay a resource in favor of e-EFKA, amounting to 50%, on the selected insurance category of main insurance for the main insurance and benefits sector and in case of belonging to the auxiliary insurance, amounting to 40%, on the selected insurance category of main insurance for the main insurance and other benefits branch and 40% on the selected ancillary insurance insurance category for the ancillary insurance branch.

d) Employed engineers and salaried lawyers pay a fund for e-EFKA, amounting to 7.7%, on the insurable main insurance earnings for the main insurance sector and other benefits and, amounting to 40%, on the selected insurance category of auxiliary insurance for the branch of supplementary insurance, which is borne exclusively by the insured.

e) Those paid with Certificates of Services Provided (P.P.Y.) pay a resource in favor of e-EFKA, amounting to 10%, on the net value of the document for the main insurance sector and other benefits, which is borne exclusively by the insured.

f) Payees with a trademark of the IKA-ETAM pay a fund in favor of e-EFKA, amounting to 7.7%, on the listed price of the tag for the main insurance and benefits sector and, amounting to 2.3%, on the listed price of the employer for the subsidiary insurance sector, which is borne exclusively by the insured.

g) Those paid with the seal of the former OGA pay a resource in favor of e-EFKA, amounting to 10%, on the value of the fees paid for the main insurance branch and other benefits, which is borne exclusively by the insured.

Especially, for those paid with the stamp of the IKA-ETAM and the OGA, the amount of the resource is determined, after a liquidation, which is carried out on an annual basis.