The Minister of Labor, Kostis Hatzidakis, referred to the new labor bill and how it will affect the daily lives of workers. The minister referred to the changes that the bill brings to the 8-hour working day and announced the introduction of a digital work card.
For labor bill said: «There is a discussion about one article of the bill, while ignoring the entire bill. The bill responds to real needs and modifies the working environment legislation, which has been in force on a large scale since 1982. Since then, approximately 40 years have passed, and the teleworking, the internet, etc. We must respond to issues raised by the employees. For example, we must address black and undeclared work; we must find a method when someone goes to work and leaves their job if they work 10 hours with overtime overtime must also be declared.».
What about the 8-hour workday?
With regard to employment 8 hours, He noted that the discussion is taking place in the context of working time arrangements: «This is a regulation that has been in force in Greece for 30 years. There is a European directive and it is widely used in other countries. This regulation can serve both sides. It provides for a settlement of working time and certain periods of the year, when businesses may have increased needs, one may go until 10 o'clock work.» At the same time, the minister stated that this is prohibited if the employee does not want it to happen.
«We give the employee the option, if they want, upon request, to apply this arrangement to themselves. We give the employee greater flexibility without reducing their income. For example, a student who works and can take exams can arrange to take paid leave instead of unpaid leave, take their exams, and work a few extra hours on other days to compensate,’ he noted.
Digital work card
Referring to the new digital work card, which will begin to take effect in large businesses while it will gradually be extended to smaller companies, the Minister of Labor said that it is being introduced to monitor the arrival and departure times of employees and will record the overtime, so that they can be paid to the employee.
Regarding parental leave, he noted that for the first time, it will be established paternity leave for a period of 14 days. Regarding teleworking, he said that the bill provides for a regulation on teleworking, which stipulates that the employer's obligation to pay for equipment of the employee, the protection of personal data (GDPR), but also the right to disconnect. «It will be explicitly stated that from a certain point onwards, as agreed by the unions and employers, the employee will ignore emails, etc.,» he said.
