Department of Labor: How mandatory rapid tests for unvaccinated persons in the private sector will be carried out

The Press Office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs issued the following statement:

The framework for conducting the mandatory rapid tests for unvaccinated persons in the private sector is defined by the Joint Decision of the Ministers of Finance, Development and Investment, Education and Religious Affairs, Labour and Social Affairs, Health, Culture and Sports, Justice, Interior, Digital Governance, Infrastructure and Transport, Shipping and Island Policy, Tourism, State and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister published in the Government Gazette (V’ 4766). Its central provision is the the introduction of an obligation for private sector workers with a physical presence at the workplace to undergo compulsory - and at their own expense - diagnostic testing (rapid or molecular test), as long as they are not vaccinated.

The main points of the EIA are as follows:

Who is subject to rapid tests and who is exempted

1. The obligation to carry out rapid tests in order to come to work has:

α) All private sector employees who are employed on an employed or trainee basis.
b) The beneficiaries of the Public Benefit Programmes of the OAED who are employed in Municipalities, Regions, etc.
c) Trainees/apprentices/students of public or private educational institutions and students of higher education institutions who are carrying out an internship or apprenticeship in the context of an educational process in private sector institutions.

2. Employees who have been vaccinated (and hold the relevant Certificate of Vaccination), or have been sick with coronavirus in the last six months (and hold a Certificate of Disease) are NOT required to undergo a rapid test.

3. Excluded from the scope of the EIA:

α) Civil servants working in physical presence, for whom another Ministerial Decision is in force. The same applies to seafarers - members of ships' crews.
b) Employees who fall within the scope of compulsory vaccinations (health workers, employees of welfare institutions) and who have not been exempted from vaccination for the specific health reasons provided by law.

How and when the rapid tests will be carried out

1. The test is carried out for a fee, at the employee's own expense, can be either rapid or molecular and can be carried out in private diagnostic laboratories, private clinics, private doctors or pharmacies. It shall be carried out once a week and shall be valid for one week from the day it is carried out.

2. For certain categories of private sector workers, there is an obligation to take 2 tests per week, with a minimum of 2 days or 48 hours between the two tests. The obligation for two tests per week (instead of one) applies to employees in:

- Focus
- Tourist businesses
- Transfers of persons
- Television, film, theatre, music productions
- Employees in private education structures (schools, tutoring centres, KEK, IEK, language centres, art education, etc.)
- Health personnel who have been exempted from the vaccination requirement for health reasons provided for by law

3. Employees in the above mentioned sectors who work one or two days a week with a maximum of one day between them (e.g. Monday-Wednesday), are required to undergo a rapid test once a week up to 24 hours before coming to the workplace. Those who work twice a week with a time difference of at least two days or three times a week or more are obliged to carry out a rapid test twice a week.

4. Private sector employees who have medical reasons for not being vaccinated are exempted from the obligation to undergo a rapid test at their own expense. These workers may exceptionally be subjected to a rapid test free of charge in public facilities.

How compliance with the rapid test obligation is checked

1. Diagnostic centres, private clinics, etc. send within 24 hours to the National Register of Patients COVID-19 kept at EDIKA the details of the persons screened and the result of the screening (positive or negative)

2. If the result of the check is negative, after this entry the employee can issue a Negative Result Certificate from gov.gr.

3. If the result is positive, the employee immediately informs the employer and the EODY health protocols (quarantine, etc.) apply.

4. The ERGANI system interoperates with EDIKA and the history of diagnostic tests of employees is formed. This record is accessed by the employer, who is required to declare which employees are exempted from the obligation by submitting to the ERGANI PC «Responsible Declaration of Enterprises-Employers on compliance with the obligation to submit unvaccinated and uninfected employees to a diagnostic test for coronavirus COVID-19». The final list of offenders is then issued by P.S. ERGANI.

5. The aforementioned Declaration of Commitment is to be submitted for the first time within 10 working days of the publication of the EIS (and relates to the first reporting week) and then every week from Tuesday to Friday for the preceding week.

Fines

1. Employees who do not undergo a rapid test shall be subject to an administrative fine of EUR 300 for full-time employees and EUR 150 for part-time employees for each breach of their weekly obligation to undergo the test. For training there is a different framework of sanctions described in the D1a/G.P.οικ.55254/9.9.2021 CPR

2. The violation is established and the fine is imposed by an act of the head of the locally competent Department of the Labour Relations Inspectorate of the SEPA, after the final record of offenders is extracted from the ERGANI system.

3. If the employer fails to submit the Declaration of Responsibility with the list of employees, a fine of EUR 2,000 is imposed.

4. In the case of a false declaration, the employer is fined 10,000 euros.

5. The employer is expressly not allowed to employ an employee with a positive rapid test. If the employer is checked by the competent authorities and found to have done so, a fine of 1,500 euros is imposed.

6. If the employer does not inform his employees by any appropriate means about the obligation to carry out a rapid test, a fine of 300 euros is imposed once.

The aim of the EIS is to contribute to the national effort to increase the number of vaccinated workers in the private sector to the greatest extent possible, so that the labour market functions smoothly without this being accompanied by a new «wave» of outbreaks of coronavirus.

The relevant EIA Δ1α/Γ.Π.οικ.64232/15.10.2021