2024-09-05 04:54:32
The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Niki Kerameos, held a meeting 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 Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) for the extension of the implementation of the Digital Work Card in catering and tourism.
At the heart of the consultation, which was held with the joint participation of employee and employer representatives, were issues of practical application of the Digital Work Card in catering and tourism, with an emphasis on solving mainly technical issues, where they arise.
Plan for the faithful implementation of the Digital Work Card
In this regard, Mrs. Kerameos announced a comprehensive communication plan for the faithful implementation of the Digital Work Card, which will include the organization of webinars, as well as informational actions in many parts of Greece, in collaboration with employee representatives and employers.
The minister emphasized the importance of implementing the Digital Labor Card in catering and tourism, in order to ensure on the one hand the recording of real working time to protect the rights of workers and on the other hand transparency in the checks by the Labor Inspectorate and, by extension, tackling undeclared and undeclared work and tax evasion.
As pointed out in a relevant announcement, from 2022, the Digital Work Card will be successfully implemented in banks and large supermarkets, from 2023 in insurance companies, DEKOs and security companies, while, from 1 July 2024, its application has been extended to industry and retail trade, sectors employing approximately 750,000 workers. It is estimated that, with the extension of the application of the measure to catering and tourism, this number will reach a total of approximately 1,500,000 workers.
Ms. Kerameos noted that since the implementation of the measure there has been a significant increase in overtime records, while she cited the example of supermarkets, in which, from the start of the measure’s implementation until the end of 2023, a cumulative increase in declared overtime was recorded. amounting to +61.2%.
Time to adjust
As the Minister of Labor announced, the pilot application of the measure in tourism and catering will start in September and will be extensive, in order to give the necessary time for businesses to adapt, to record issues and resolve them.
The meeting was attended by the General Secretary of Labor Relations, Nikos Milapidis, from GSEVEE Giorgos Kavvathas, president of the Confederation, Nikos Dimas, its Legal Advisor and Giorgos Thanopoulos, Scientific Officer of the Small Business Institute of GSEVEE. POEET was represented by Giorgos Hotzoglou, president of the Federation and its Secretary General, Dimitris Koutoukis, and from SETE the president of the Association, Yiannis Paraschis, the vice-presidents, Eutychios Vassilakis, Yiannis Hatzis, Panagiotis Tokouzis and Lyssandros Tsilidis, the Authorized Advisor, Alexandros Thanos, the General Manager, Maria Gatsou and the Legal Advisor, Nikos Zoitos.