The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Panos Tsakloglou, spoke in an interview with Real FM 97.8 about the maternity allowance, the employment of pensioners, but also the six-day work.
Specifically, Mr. Tsakloglou noted that the main purpose of the government and the Ministry of Labor is to help young couples, who want to have children, to have the desired number of children, reconciling family and professional life. As he said, in this direction, the maternity allowance is paid to independent professionals, self-employed and farmers, for nine months, which is equal to the minimum wage, i.e. 830 euros.
“In the previous term, we extended the duration of the allowance to private sector tenants from six months to nine months. In addition, we took a number of measures, such as the maternity allowance, the increase of places in daycare centers and nurseries, the expansion of the full-day school, the “Neighborhood Nannies”, but also the housing policy, which we brought back, to support in particular the new couples” said the Deputy Minister of Labor.
Panos Tsakloglou for the employment of pensioners
To a question about the employment of pensioners, Mr. Tsakloglou answered the following: “Although we are a country in which unemployment is still at high levels, although it has decreased spectacularly in recent years, there is a narrowness in the labor market. At the same time, we see that a large number of pensioners would like to work.
What used to apply was that, if a pensioner wanted to work, he essentially lost 30% of his pension (60% with the Katrougalou law). With the latest legislative change, the pension of employed pensioners is paid without deduction and 10% is withheld from employment income.
It is typical that of the 36,000 working pensioners we had before the law change, almost 75,000 have already registered on the platform.
This is a measure that helps pensioners to improve their income, but also their future pension.”
Panos Tsakloglou for the 6-day work
For the six-day work, the Deputy Minister of Labor clarified the following: “There are two cases. The employer in continuous operations can ask the employee to work an extra day, but the pay is 40% more, as it is counted as overtime. It can also be applied to other businesses, which are not in continuous operation, but may have some extra needs in a certain period. However, as Mr. Tsakloglou clarified, it does not concern hotels and restaurants.
