Retroactive dues cause headaches

The risk of thousands of pensioners running to law firms and labor experts remains high as several points in the decisions published by the Council of State on the payment of retroactive dues to retirees remain vague.

Although government officials have assured that all pensioners will get the money that is due to them, uncertainty is generating fresh concerns for hundreds of thousands of potential recipients.

The government is aware of the potentially high political cost of a possible new wave of court cases or appeals to the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA), as pensioners react to fears that their claims may have a statute of limitations, as was the case with the claims of more than 1 million pensioners in 2018.

The government is also counting the fiscal cost of a general application of the CoS rulings for the June 2015-May 2016 period, which will come close to 4 billion euros.

State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Wednesday that the Greek government’s intention is to “introduce a regulation that covers as many pensioners as possible, and not just those who resorted to courts.”