The special plan to support employment in the hotel industry was handed over yesterday by the Minister of Labour Marinos Mousiouttas to the hoteliers' associations and the representatives of the trade unions.
The plan aims to maintain employment in the hotel sector, due to the sudden decrease in tourism activity resulting from geopolitical developments in the Middle East. It includes 12 points and is implemented by decree of the Minister of Labour.
It is noted that the government plan has been put on a voluntary basis, which means that the owners of hotel units or tourist accommodation can accept it and implement it or reject it. The Ministry of Labour will announce within the next few days the start date for the submission of applications.
For their part, the two directly interested parties, i.e. the hoteliers' associations and the guilds, keep a low profile, noting that we should let the plan work and judge it by the result.
Under the circumstances, both sides describe it as satisfactory, despite the fact that hoteliers fought for something more, such as increasing the percentage related to the amount of employee wage subsidy to 50% instead of 30%, as well as the inclusion of May in the support plan.
However, the Government did not adopt these positions. Speaking to "F", the General Director of PASYXE, Christos Angelidis, expressed the hope that this will be the first and last support plan. As he said, we hope that soon the situation will return to normal and tourism will pick up again, so that support plans on the part of the government are not necessary.
Regarding the plan itself, among its main provisions is the note that it will cover all hotels and hotel accommodations that were/are in operation for the period 1/4/2026 – 30/4/2026 (i.e. units that were in operation during the winter season and continue to be open and additional units that will reopen no later than 20/4/2026).
However, the term added by the Ministry of Labour states that businesses that will operate only coffee restaurants or other related activities other than accommodation, will not be considered active.
Non-active enterprises are considered to be enterprises that exclusively carry out maintenance/repair works or other related works, which cannot be considered as the usual operations included in the scope of the enterprises in question.
The 12 points included in the support plan of the Ministry of Labour and which are accompanied by terms and conditions are as follows:
1/ The Special Scheme will cover all Hotels/Hotel accommodations that were in operation for the period 1/4/2026 – 30/4/2026 (i.e. units that were in operation during the winter season and continue to be open and additional units that will reopen no later than 20/4/2026).
2/ Businesses will submit a special application electronically to the "ERGANI" information system. All supporting documents for audit (certificate from an Auditor/Accountant for a reduction in turnover, Certificate of Bank Account and certificate of directors & shares of the Registrar of Companies) will also be uploaded to the system.
3/ Eligible businesses will be those that have a reduction or projected decrease in their turnover of more than 40% for April 2026 compared to April 2025 or occupancy below 60%. (It is understood that the decrease in turnover refers to the entire period from April 1, 2026 to April 30, 2026, while the occupancy refers to the period during which the company operates).
4/ Up to 80% of the company's employees will be entitled to a subsidy. (The remaining 20% includes directors, shareholders, partners who own more than 20% of the shares, general managers and managers).
5/ During the subsidy period, the employee will receive an allowance on his monthly salary of 30% with a maximum amount of €1324 and the employer will be obliged to supplement the rest of the salary. (A basic condition for participation in the Special Scheme is that no employee has been dismissed until May 31, 2026, except for reasons justifying dismissal without notice, based on the Termination of Employment Legislation).
6/ Before submitting a subsidy application, the employer should update the salary through the process of registering the Terms of Employment in the "ERGANI" information system.
7/ The allowance will be considered insurable income and the necessary credits will be given to the Social Insurance Fund. (The employer is obliged to pay to the funds, which are managed by the Social Insurance Services, the contributions due – for employer and employee – corresponding to the amount to be paid by the employer to the employees – employees).
8/ Employees who were employed after 01/04/2026 until 20/04/2026 will receive a proportion of the allowance.
9/ Applications from people with a recruitment application submission date later than 20/04/2026 will not be accepted.
10/ For employees in the sector, who were terminated during the period November 2025 – March 2026 and were not covered by suspension plans of the Social Insurance Fund in the hotel industry, in order to be eligible for an allowance, the employer must hire the employee in the ERGANI information system before submitting the application for a subsidy.
11/ The Hotels that will be subsidized will not have to terminate the employment of staff until 31/05/2026.
12/ After the expiration of the validity period of the Special Scheme, the actual salary for which contributions have been paid to the Social Insurance Services Fund (04/2026) will be checked with the salary declared in the "ERGANI" information system, on which the Special Allowance has been calculated.
In the terms and conditions accompanying the plan, it is underlined that the Ministry of Labour will be authorized to verify, in cooperation with other competent Authorities of the Republic or abroad and with Organizations/Bodies/Businesses, as many of the information contained in the application as is deemed necessary for the examination of the application and the provision of the benefit.
