Galery

1

Victoria Mindova

The Ministry of Employment is taking emergency measures to keep the jobs. The Minister of Labour and Employment Louka Katseli presented the texts of two bills concerning the social policy of the government and the changes in the activities of the Labour Inspectorate in an emergency meeting with leaders of Greek trade unions.

They discussed the development of programs for regional employment and the adoption of new road charter to support employment. Its main purpose is to promote programs supporting the small and medium business by providing companies in difficulty free advice on how to optimize their activity.

"Instead of resorting to dismissals or even bankruptcy a merchant or entrepreneur running a small business could use the services of a consultant subsidized by the Ministry," explained Katseli. The program will be fully supported by funds under the National Strategic Development Framework and its main objective is to prevent the bankruptcy of small enterprises which provide approximately 96% of the jobs in the country.
 
The government consulted employers and trade union forces in the country before turning the new changes into state law. The president of the Union of Greek Industrialists Dimitris Daskalopoulos, the president of the Greek Confederation of Commercial Enterprises Vasilis Korkidis, Dimitris Asimakopulos from the Hellenic Confederation of Craftsmen and Merchants, the trade union leader Yiannis Panagopoulos and Ioannis Retsos, president of the Union of Athens Hoteliers took part in the discussions. All of them welcomed the idea that every effort should  be made to keep the jobs and expressed their willingness to support the Ministry in its future initiatives in this area.

"We want to know the social partners’ position and proposals in the government's attempt to curb rising unemployment. We are open to all discussions and changes so as to achieve better results," Minister of Employment Louka Katseli told reporters after the meeting. Social partners are expected to submit their position on the issues discussed within a week. The draft law on social policy and changes in the activities of the Labour Inspectorate should pass the second reading in Parliament in early February.

After the law enactment in 2011 the data collected by the Labour Inspectorate will be finally used not only by labour offices, but also by social security funds. More stringent measures and penalties for infringements of labour legislation will be imposed. "Our goal is to minimize irregularities and fraud in social security and ensure compliance with the labour relations law in the country," said Deputy Minister of Employment George Koutroumanis while leaving the Ministry.

The program to increase employment by regions according to the needs of each area currently has a budget of 100 million euros but the Ministry hopes to collect a total of about 400 million euros by the middle of the year. Money must be approved and granted by EU funds and will be used to subsidize new jobs in government organizations where there is a lack of personnel. The employment contracts will be signed for a period of two years. Professionals from different fields who have lost their jobs as a result of the crisis will be able to find work for the next two years. This period will be quite difficult so that programs of this type are intended to provide employment and compensate the effect of the shrinking market and recession, said Katseli.

A program to support employment of people over the age of 55 is already running successfully. The Ministry wants to extend the age limit but according to specialists there are  regulatory restrictions which will take time to be changed.