Bill to write off some disputed debts to funds

The Labor and Social Security Ministry is preparing a bill that will provide for the write-off of debts confirmed up to December 31, 2016 that are being challenged in court or where reasonable doubt has been recorded in relation to their confirmation by the social security fund.

The legislative initiative on the forgiveness of disputed old debts was confirmed on state television on Friday by Deputy Minister Tasos Petropoulos. It will only concern debts dating from before the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) started operating. “The regulation will offer the possibility to many people who have unjustifiably been ordered to pay contributions to different funds to have those debts written off,” Petropoulos stated, citing journalists’ debts to the OAEE freelancers’ fund as an example.

This clause, which is set to provide some relief to thousands of people who paid into two funds in the past, will be included in a wide-ranging draft law by the ministry, which will also regulate the new fines of the Labor Inspection Squad for undeclared workers, with reductions of between 70 and 80 percent on the condition that employers hire the undeclared workers.