Draft employment bill is pared down

The government is ready to post the draft bill on “transparency in employment terms” and open it for public consultation, but will strip it of provisions touching upon the digital employment card, the employment of retirees and the retirement of those who owe money to the social security agency EFKA.

These provisions will be discussed in cabinet on August 31 before being tabled in Parliament, Kathimerini understands.

The labor bill will be posted online Tuesday, barring any last-minute hiccups. It is actually implementing a European Union directive and, not for the first time for a domestic law, the draft was finalized only after the European Union threatened to fine Greece for non-compliance with the directive.

The law will enshrine the right of full-time employees to work another job; their employers can no longer deny them that right.

Despite what opposition parties and union claim, the law provides for a minimum non-working segment of 11 hours per day.

Another provision reduces the time of “trial employment” from 12 to six months. If the employer retains the employee, the initial date of employment is considered to be the date of hiring. Employees will have the same rights to leave, for example, as their co-workers. Until now, an employee had to spend a year at a job before being entitled to leave.

On the employment of retirees, the government will replace the current 30% cut in their pension, by a special levy; Labor Minister Adonis Georgiadis has promised the levy on the wage will be much lower than the pension cut. The type of levy is still being debated, with officials pointing out that there will be a period of reduced revenue for the state.