2024-09-15 12:55:33
Interventions are immediately scheduled where necessary by the General Secretariat of Labor for the smooth operation of the Digital Card.
When should an employment contract for hiring on a Saturday be uploaded to the “Ergani” system, but also how to avoid a fine if the employee punches the Digital Card 10 minutes earlier? How will the absolute recording of overtime be done for each employee, in a timely manner, so that it does not appear that the company wants to avoid paying them?
These are just some of the questions that the General Secretariat of Labor has gathered and is going to resolve immediately, intervening – correcting where necessary the operation of the Digital Card. Combined with the start of implementation of the “Ergani II” system, the contacts of competent executives and service agents with representatives of the market are continuous, in order to deal with such procedural-technical issues, which, however, cause great inconvenience.
It is no coincidence that the first to be asked to transfer their knowledge to deal with such issues were tax professionals and accountants. The pilot start of the use and expansion of the Digital Card in tourism and catering has mobilized the entire operating mechanism at the Ministry of Labor. Early readings from retail and industry, which were formally brought under the same “real-time” timesheet regime just two months ago on July 1, are positive.
But even there, inconsistencies and mistakes are found that can lead to fines, especially in the smallest businesses in the retail trade. That is why the responsible Minister of Labour, Niki Kerameos, announced that special seminars will be held, as well as informative actions in many parts of Greece, in collaboration with the representatives of workers and employers.
The purpose of the above actions is to provide information on the correct application of the Digital Job Card. Already, about a week ago, a special preparatory meeting was held at the Ministry of Labor, in the presence of Mrs. Kerameos, with the participation of the General Confederation of Professional Craft Merchants of Greece (GSEVEE), the Panhellenic Federation of Food and Tourism Workers (POEET) and the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
Technical issues
The technical issues that have already been identified regarding the use of the Digital Card, but also the special conditions that must be overcome, due to the nature of tourism professions, were raised. For example, the potential problem that can arise from the mass recruitment of workers in a restaurant, due to an emergency event, which can take place during a weekend, was pointed out. It is obvious that the timely recording of these mass recruitments is a requirement, as otherwise the system can read that these are cases of “black” and undeclared work. In such an eventuality, if an audit is carried out by the Labor Inspectorate, fines will be imposed, which may be unfair to the employer, who wants to have the employees recorded in “real time”.
At the same time, of course, the competent services of the Ministry of Labor point out that the auditors must be aware that there are cases where there are attempts to “cover up” violations by overtime. After all, it is the most “widespread” form of delinquency in the labor market, despite the fact that any detection of it brings up to the maximum fine that can be imposed, i.e. 10,500 euros per case.