800-euro allowance: Who will receive the full amount?

Today is the first workday of the new lockdown, with hundreds of thousands of workers already be in suspension of contract waiting for the 800-euro allowance or mandatory teleworking. For at least three weeks, the second nationwide exam lockdown because of coronavirus imposes his own rules at work with 3 key measures to be implemented simultaneously affecting income, working hours, and transfers and the employment of at least one million workers:

1. Program «Cooperation»with reduced working hours and" salary
2. Telecommuting, mandatory or optional
3. Suspension of an Employment Contract and special purpose compensation for employees of businesses that have been closed by government order or that have been affected based on the KAD classification.

Especially during this quarantine, and the Open but Affected Businesses Based on the Greek Classification of Economic Activities (KAD), ...that are furloughing their employees are expected to follow the dates of the local or national lockdown. This means that businesses that remain open and are deemed to be affected based on the expanded KAD list from April will most likely not report furloughs starting on 1^η November, but:

• in Thessaloniki, the Serres etc. will be able to place their employees on leave starting November 3.
• In Athens and in the rest of Greece, where the lockdown was imposed last Saturday, employers will be able to place their employees on furlough starting November 7, and so on.

Therefore those who will be eligible for probation starting on the 1st^η November, so that they may receive the The entire 800 series in December These are primarily employees who were on leave in October, namely:

• Workers in the food service, tourism, transportation, culture, and sports sectors
• employees who belong to vulnerable groups
• Employees at businesses that have been suspended since October—specifically in Kozani since October 16 and in Kastoria since October 23.
• Employees of Temporary Employment Agencies (TEAs) who have been assigned to an indirect employer that falls under an affected KAD code for October.

As the second wave of coronavirus A series of measures is being rolled out across the country and is gradually being implemented for both employed and unemployed people. The main measure of the second lockdown, as was the case in the spring, is the suspension of employment contracts, which applies across the board to hundreds of closed or affected sectors based on the Greek Classification of Economic Activities (KAD) and is accompanied by special-purpose compensation, calculated proportionally based on the amount of 800 euros for 30 days. The measure covers all employees hired through November 4. The special-purpose compensation will be calculated proportionally based on the calendar days of the suspension, using a reference amount of 26.66 euros per day:

1. Employees into Regional Units—e.g.,. in Thessaloniki – whose contracts have been mandatorily suspended under the KAD as of November 3 are suspended for 28 days, from November 3 to November 30. For example: An employee at a business in Thessaloniki that has been closed under the KAD will be placed on suspension starting November 3 and will receive 747 euros.
2. Employees whose contracts are mandatorily suspended under the KAD starting November 7 are suspended for 24 days. For example: Employee A business that has been ordered to close by the government under the KAD will be suspended as of November 7. It will receive 640 euros special compensation.
3. Employees whose contract is automatically suspended as of another date, for example, today, Monday, November 9. For example: Hair salon employee/barbershop/beauty salon will be suspended as of November 9 and will receive  587 euros for a 22-day suspension.
4. Employees whose employment contracts are suspended by their employer for part or all of the month at businesses that remain open but are classified as affected for November and based on the generalizedApril KAD classification. Suspensions for employees at open—affected businesses follow the dates of the local and national lockdowns. That is, in Thessaloniki, employees of open—affected businesses are placed on furlough starting November 3, while in Athens and elsewhere, starting November 7. Employees in tourism, food service, sports, transportation, and culture who were on furlough in October may begin their furlough starting November 1.

For the first few days of November and until the local or national lockdown, the employer must pay the employee’s salary and cover the social security contributions corresponding to the days of the month during which the employee worked. Conversely, once a business’s operations are suspended by government order, the employment contract is suspended, and the government assumes responsibility for paying special-purpose compensation and covering social security contributions up to the amount of the employees’ nominal wages. Closed and affected businesses are prohibited from carrying out layoffs, and if they do so, such layoffs are null and void. Specifically for affected businesses, the clause requiring the maintenance of the current number of employees for one month following the activation of the suspensions also applies.

The statements The November suspensions will begin in the «Ergani» system, to be entered by employers and employees on Next Sunday, November 15 and will last until November 24 for businesses closed by government order. After the Employer's Statement Regarding the Suspension of the Contract Employment data submitted by the company to the “Ergani” information system, employees will submit sworn statements during the same period—that is, from November 15, 2020, through December 7, 2020—on the platform supportemployees.services.gov.gr in cases where their employment contracts are suspended for the first time, regardless of who the employer is. In other words:

• Employees who have previously filed a declaration are not required to file a new one unless they wish to change their information (e.g., IBAN)
• Only Employees whose employment contracts are being suspended for the first time must submit a sworn statement

Payments Payments of special-purpose compensation to employees of businesses closed by government order under the KAD will be made From Friday, November 27, 2020, through December 3, 2020.

Employers and Employees affected businesses Based on the KAD, they will submit sworn statements from November 15, 2020, through December 7, 2020, in the same manner.  Payments of the special-purpose compensation for employees of affected businesses will be made in stages from December 7 through the end of December.

Meanwhile, the filing period for October deferrals continues through November 16 from:

• employees in food supply, tourism, transport, culture, sports and any other affected sector based on the KAD classification
• employees belonging to vulnerable groups
• businesses suspended as early as October, and specifically in Kozani starting on October 16 and in Kastoria starting on October 23.
• Employees Temporary Employment Agencies (EPA), who have been assigned to an indirect employer that falls under an affected KAD code.

Payments of the special October benefits are expected during the third 10-day period of November, almost simultaneously this time with the payments of the November deferrals.

Along with the suspensions of contracts, the mandatory telework policy for 50% employees—who can work remotely nationwide—is also in effect. All operating businesses throughout the country, regardless of whether they have been affected by the crisis or not, are required to have their employees in the 50% category work remotely, provided their work can be performed remotely. Telework must be reported to «Ergani» using Form 4.1; failure to comply will result in a fine of 3,000 euros for the business. For example: An insurance company employs 50 office workers and 20 field technicians. The company is required to have 25 office workers work remotely, but not the field technicians. The 50% calculation is based on the number of employees who can perform their work remotely.

At the same time, the submission of unilateral declarations to the «Ergani»from artists and tour guides regarding the special compensation for September and October. Affidavits must also be submitted by November 25 – applications from working artists, creators, and professionals in the arts and culture who registered by October 20 on the platform artandcultureprofessionals.services.gov.gr.

Applications for Phase B of October under the «Syn-Ergasia» Mechanism must be submitted by November 24, while applications for Phase A of November must be submitted by November 30.

As for the unemployed, is granted one-time financial assistance, amounting to 400 euros, to those who do not receive subsidies long-term unemployed, who had been registered as unemployed for more than 12 consecutive months as of March 2020. The measure applies to approximately 130,000 long-term unemployed individuals. At the same time, the payment of unemployment benefits is being extended by two months for those whose benefits expired in September, October, November, and December.