Filenews 30 November 2024 - by Adamos Adamou
The signal for the start of the electronic census of employees and their terms of employment is expected to be given by the Minister of Labour Yiannis Panagiotou from a week ago with the issuance of a relevant decree.
The electronic census will be done through an upgraded version of the ERGANI information system, which is already used by the Ministry of Labour to safeguard the recruitment of personnel by businesses and specifically through ERGANI II, without excluding the process to start with the existing system.
The latest news on the issue that has long concerned the business world was announced yesterday by the Minister of Labour, Yiannis Panayiotou, during the presentation of his Ministry's budget for 2025 to the parliamentary Committee on Finance.
What will Ergani show?
The legislation on the electronic census of private sector employees and their terms of employment, such as their payroll and working hours, was passed at the end of October by Parliament – along with the increase of fines for undeclared work – by amending the Transparent and Predictable Terms Law.
The amended legislation was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on November 15 and what is now expected to start implementing the census/registration, which is estimated to be gradual, providing sufficient time for businesses to comply, is the issuance of a relevant decree by the Minister of Labour.
This, as Mr. Panayiotou said yesterday, is expected to take place next week, a development that will also determine the obligations of businesses in this regard.
According to the text approved by the Parliament and published, "the employer registers the essential terms of employment of his employees in an information system determined by decree of the Minister, which is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic".
The decree issued will specify "the type of system, the procedure for registering the required data in the system and any other information concerning the operation of the system and the specific obligation of the employer".
The Minister of Labour described this measure as important, saying, among other things, that by registering employees and their working conditions, there will be a much better picture of the data in the labour market and it will be possible to verify the insurance contributions to be paid, adding that the results of the process in Greece where ERGANI II is already operating are positive and impressive.
The process that is expected to begin, the Minister added, will eventually strengthen pensions as well. The strengthening of pensions is also the aim of the pension reform, with Panayiotou reiterating yesterday that the aim is for the relevant bills in this direction to be submitted to Parliament by the end of 2025.
Among the priorities of the Ministry of Labour as recorded yesterday is the further reduction of unemployment in order to achieve the goal of full employment conditions in 2025.
Policies €900 million
The budget of the Ministry of Labour for 2025 amounts to €884m. It shows an increase of €84m. compared to the corresponding budget of 2024, which amounted to €800 million. The above amount does not include expenses for projects co-financed by the European Social Fund amounting to €27m. for the year 2025, covered by the budget of the Directorate-General for Development.
Therefore, the total budget of the Ministry of Labour for the year 2025, including the costs of co-financed projects, amounts to €911m. compared to the corresponding budget of €821m. in 2024.
Of the total €911m, 22% concerns Benefits, Sponsorships, Plans and Projects, 3% in personnel costs, 73% in expenditure on the General Government Contribution, while operating expenses are limited to 2%. Expenditure of €2.41 billion was budgeted for the Social Insurance Fund, €128 million for the Leave Fund, €55 million for the Redundancy Fund. and for the Employer's Insolvency Fund €293,000.
