The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Panos Tsakloglou, spoke, among other things, about the extraordinary work shift, the retirement limits, the Fund for Auxiliary Capitalization Insurance (TEKA), but also about the pending pensions, in an interview on the First Program of ERT.

Regarding the emergency work shift, the Deputy Minister of Labor stated that there is no six-day work in Greece and the measure of the emergency shift only concerns businesses that operate continuously to cover emergency needs. According to the available data, the number of companies that made use of this provision during the first fortnight of July 2024 constitute only 0.076% of the companies and their branches in Greece.

Regarding TEKA, Mr. Tsakloglou noted that it is a Fund that concerns all new entrants to the labor market with an obligation of supplementary insurance. “In close cooperation with the administration of TEKA, we are working to remove any obstacles that may delay the smooth operation of the Fund. The Fund’s default portfolio is expected to be ready within this year, while the other two portfolios, a more conservative one and a riskier one, will be ready in the following years,” he stressed.

In a question about the pending drafts, the Deputy Minister of Labor responded: “The number of overdue pending pensions has decreased dramatically since the current government took over. Now we are approaching the “hard core” of problem cases, but in this category too the time to provide the pension has been significantly reduced. Now, the two major EFKA projects are “running”, namely the digitization of life insurance and the creation of a new, truly integrated, information system. With the completion of these projects, the pension awarding process will be almost completely automated.”

Regarding the new wage index, he pointed out that a working group has been set up, “whose conclusion on the construction of a new reliable wage index is expected before the end of the year. According to the legislation, from next year, pensionable earnings will be calculated using the wage index and not the consumer price index, as has been the case until now. The percentage change of the same index will be used for the annual readjustment of the amount of contributions of the self-employed”.

For the retirement age limits, Mr. Tsakloglou he underlined that all European pension systems face the consequences of demographic aging of the population, as in no country is the fertility rate above 2.1, which is the threshold for the native population to remain stable. “Therefore, many countries, including Greece, have linked retirement age limits to pensioners’ life expectancy. Due to the fact that the relevant limit in our country did not change during the last reporting period, no change to these limits is foreseen until 2027,” he clarified.

Regarding the subject of punctuality, the Deputy Minister of Labor stated that, according to various opinion surveys, “punctuality is today the most important problem of Greek households. The Greek government has taken a series of measures, which have begun to bear fruit, as the rate of inflation in Greece is already slightly below the European average. The main problem is found in food. Based on a recent study by the Bank of Greece, the Greek economy needs more competition, especially in the supply chain sector, while if the effect of indirect taxes on final prices is isolated, one can see that prices in Greece are not that different from what in other European countries”.

Regarding the transfer of workers, Mr. Tsakloglou said that interstate agreements on the transfer of workers have already been signed and negotiations are underway for the conclusion of other similar agreements, mainly for the transfer of workers in sectors such as agriculture and construction. As the Deputy Minister of Labor pointed out, “unemployment may have decreased spectacularly in the previous five years, it remains, however, at a high level compared to the rest of the European countries, while major bottlenecks are already observed in many sectors of the labor market. Transfers are always the last step in the process of meeting the needs and the first goal remains the retraining of the workforce so that it meets the needs of the labor market.