Retail and industry will be the next branches to apply the Digital Work Card from the beginning of 2024as announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, ‘Adonis Georgiadesspeaking at the board meeting of the Athens Chamber of Commerce.

As Mr. Georgiadis said, at this stage, the ministry is working on the ministerial decision that will set the timetable for its implementation. Afterwards, meetings with representatives of the branches will follow, in order to issue the guide for the use of the Digital Work Card for each branch separately, taking into account the particularities of each time.

According to the Minister of Labor, from the beginning of 2024, the Digital Labor Card measure will be extended to retail trade and industry and, in October 2024, it is planned to be applied to catering and tourism.

Among other things, Mr. Georgiadis reminded that the insurance contributions were reduced by 4.4 percentage points, while they are going to be reduced by an additional percentage point. Based on the planning, this reduction is expected to take place in two installments: by 0.50% in 2025 and by 0.50% in 2027.

For his part, during the meeting, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Yannis Hatzitheodosiou, raised the issues concerning all small and medium-sized businesses and freelancers.

As he underlined, the government proceeded to reduce insurance contributions, however, non-salary costs remain high and rationalization is required. “We are in favor of increasing citizens’ incomes, as they are the consumers who support small and medium-sized businesses. However, it is not possible to see increases in the minimum wage, without them being combined with a reduction in the burdens of businesses. The golden ratio must be found, so that businesses can meet their obligations,” said Mr. Hadjitheodosiou and added that another permanent request of the business community is the implementation of a comprehensive settlement of past debts.

At the same time, the president of the Athens Professional Chamber emphasized that another issue that concerns many members of the Chamber is the fines imposed on businesses and professionals either for some criminal behavior or because they were not consistent with certain deadlines. In many cases, as he argued, they are exterminating, while “the ability to react on the part of the business is also limited.” “The company cannot appeal to a Commission, in order to file its objections, but is obliged to resort to the administrative courts. This means more bureaucracy, costs and delays” commented Mr. Hatzitheodosiou. To resolve the issue, he proposed the establishment of an appellate Committee, similar to the dispute resolution department that has been operating effectively for years by the Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE).

Finally, as he added, the Athens Chamber of Commerce has received messages from its members regarding “the serious issue of the lack of equality between the employed and the self-employed for the provision of sickness benefits from the EFKA. Our insurance system disproportionately discriminates against freelancers when they find themselves in the disadvantageous position of being unable to work due to illness or accident. In contrast to the support framework for wage earners, the self-employed find themselves practically unprotected, with dire consequences for them and their families. The proposal of the Athens Chamber of Commerce is to equalize the treatment of employees and the unemployed in cases where they are deemed incapable of work” noted Mr. Hatjitheodosiou.