The Ministry of Labor’s caller bill, which is being voted connected successful Parliament today, provides “tools” done flexible moving hours to conscionable the needs of some employees and businesses.
At the aforesaid time, the measure introduces simplified procedures, including explicit hirings and resignations with a azygous click, replacing “paperwork” with integer operation. Moreover, the statement of moving clip connected a weekly, monthly, oregon yearly ground tin payment astir each sectors of the system — particularly today, erstwhile the scourge of labour shortages is troubling the occupation market.
The measure besides provides the anticipation for an worker to enactment up to 13 hours a time (by exception) for a azygous employer, with a 40% wage increase, and includes safeguards that explicitly authorities that employees cannot beryllium dismissed if they garbage overtime work.
As Minister of Labor Niki Kerameus emphatically notes, “the usage of flexible hours successful nary lawsuit overturns workers’ rights to an 8-hour time and a 40-hour enactment week — connected the contrary, these rights are strengthened done the usage of the Digital Work Card. This measure responds to the needs of the modern labour market, and it comes from its halfway — employees and businesses themselves.”
The General Secretary of Labor, Nikos Milapidis, referred to a “culture of bully faith”, adding: “Working clip successful nary lawsuit constitutes a tract of escaped determination by the employer, since our authorities sets wide limits connected exceeding regular and play moving hours: 40 play hours successful a five-day oregon six-day system, and 48 hours total, including other enactment oregon overtime, implicit a four-month period. In addition, connected an yearly basis, the maximum overtime bounds cannot transcend 150 hours. Refusal to enactment overtime oregon to modify schedules is protected by instrumentality wrong the model of bully religion and cannot pb to immoderate adverse change, discrimination, oregon dismissal of the employee.”
Most provisions of the measure person a dual purpose: to marque beingness easier for some employees and businesses. Below is an analytical look astatine the benefits for each side.
Benefits for Employees
1. Flexible moving hours – What changes:
Currently, an worker tin exceptionally enactment up to 13 hours a day, but lone by combining enactment for 2 oregon much employers. Under the caller bill, this 13-hour bounds tin use even erstwhile moving for a azygous employer, with a 40% overtime wage increase, provided remainder periods and play moving hr limits are strictly respected.
The 13-hour docket cannot beryllium applied daily, lone occasionally, erstwhile concern needs necessitate it. Weekly enactment clip cannot transcend 48 hours implicit immoderate four-month period, including other and overtime enactment — astir 37 days per year, oregon about 3 days per month.
Example: A supermarket worker moving six days a week whitethorn request to enactment 13 hours connected Friday and Saturday owed to higher demand. For the 9th hr (extra work), they gain +20%, and for hours 10–13 (overtime), +40% per hour. Having worked 26 hours successful 2 days, they person 22 hours near for the week (48 total), truthful they’ll enactment astir 5.5 hours per time from Monday to Thursday.
2. Higher wage for overtime:
Example: A idiosyncratic employed by 2 employers earning €8/hour who works 13 hours full earns €104/day.
If they enactment the aforesaid 13 hours for one employer, they gain €119/day acknowledgment to the 40% overtime premium.
3. Work clip arrangement:
The measure introduces the anticipation of a four-day workweek passim the twelvemonth (not conscionable for six months), benefiting particularly moving parents oregon radical with household obligations.
Arrangements tin beryllium made weekly, monthly, oregon annually, allowing employees to program their clip flexibly. For example, a genitor could enactment 4 days/week and instrumentality Fridays disconnected year-round — provided the worker consents. Extra hours tin beryllium offset with shorter days, clip off, oregon paid permission later.
Example: An security institution worker agrees to enactment 10 hours Monday–Thursday and person Friday off. Overtime beyond 10 hours is prohibited. Total play hours stay 40 (10 × 4).
4. Overtime rights for part-time workers:
Under the caller rules, part-time employees tin take to enactment beyond their regular 8-hour shift, receiving the 40% overtime premium.
Example: A edifice idiosyncratic employed Friday–Sunday tin summation their income by moving other hours if they wish.
5. Split yearly permission (minimum 5 days):
Employees summation much autonomy successful scheduling their yearly vacation. They tin divided their summertime permission into smaller parts, by statement with the employer.
6. End of maltreatment done the Digital Work Card:
It is explicitly stated that immoderate reduction successful wage aft implementing the Digital Work Card is considered a unilateral harmful change — protecting workers from retaliatory wage cuts.
Some employers, aft being forced to wage for recently disposable overtime, tried to offset costs by lowering basal wage (e.g., from €1,800 to €1,500). Under the caller bill, specified wage reductions are invalid nether labour law.
Benefits for Businesses
The caller provisions purpose to better service concern needs during highest periods and reduce bureaucracy.
1. Less bureaucracy:
As Minister Kerameus noted, the caller strategy volition necessitate only 1 papers for hiring alternatively of four.
2. Express hirings:
“Fast track” hirings via a mobile app volition beryllium possible, particularly for urgent needs connected holidays oregon weekends — for example, successful restaurants oregon hotels.
Each leader tin prosecute unit for urgent needs with a fixed-term declaration up to 2 days per week done a peculiar “Quick Hire” app.
Previously, galore employers successful hospitality complained they couldn’t process play hirings due to the fact that their accountants were unavailable — pushing immoderate toward amerciable (“off-the-books”) employment.
All hires indispensable inactive beryllium declared to ERGANI, the authoritative employment database.
Importantly, the measure does not let “express firings” — dismissal rules stay unchanged.
3. Voluntary resignation with 1 click:
Similarly, a “one-click” integer resignation process is introduced to trim bureaucracy.
Currently, erstwhile an worker resigns, the leader indispensable hold 10 days earlier hiring a replacement, different the resignation could beryllium deemed a dismissal (requiring severance).
With the caller fast-track hiring and resignation process, replacement hires tin beryllium made immediately, without waiting 10 days.
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