Filenews 7 April 2023 - byAdamos Adamou
Parliament opened yesterday the way for the provision of unemployment benefit to those bank employees who left last year with voluntary exit plans, finding then that they were not entitled to this benefit, contrary to the practice of previous years.
The Plenary of the House approved a bill of the Government amending the Social Insurance Law, so that those who retired since April last year, receiving ex gratia compensation, are also entitled to unemployment benefit. In fact, the possibility of providing unemployment is also given to those who will leave under similar voluntary exit plans until the end of the year. Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou has agreed that the window opening, which was closed by a court ruling last year reversing the practice of previous years, should remain open until the end of the year rather than the end of May as originally proposed. The extension of the regulation was requested by all social partners and parliamentarians, citing information about imminent new disengagements from the banking sector.
The amendment of the legislation thus implements the Government's pre-election commitment to hundreds of bank employees, who were essentially left exposed when they left Tue last year. Cyprus and Elliniko, on the basis of voluntary exit plans, but without receiving unemployment, due to the court decision and the relevant opinion of the Legal Service that followed.
However, the chairman of the Labour Committee, Andreas Kafkalias, before the unanimous vote yesterday on the bill - there were two abstentions - also recalled the commitment made by the minister for a comprehensive regulation of the issue, so that the practice of gratuitous compensation does not cancel the right of employees who leave to unemployment benefit.
