The Council of State dismissed the motion for annulment filed by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and other regional employers' associations, which called for the annulment of the Ministry of Labor’s circular dated February 18, 2019, which provided instructions for the implementation of the new minimum wage of 586 euros, the daily wage of 22.83 euros, and the payment of three-year bonuses to employees and manual workers. As a result, the payment of the seniority allowance («three-year increments») was «unfrozen.».
In particular, The employers' organizations' petition was dismissed as inadmissible, as the Council of State ruled that the circular in question, No. 7613/395/18.2.2019, issued by the Minister of Labor, which provided guidelines «on the application of the minimum wage and the minimum daily wage for employees and manual workers throughout the country,» is clearly an interpretive circular and cannot be challenged before the Council of State. In other words, The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) was, as is said in legal scholarship, «opposed to a non-enforceable act”».
In 2019, the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and six other regional associations—(SVAP, SVTHKE, SVSE, SEVPDE, STHEB, PASEVIPE) and the Association of Mining Enterprises. All sought the annulment of the circular in question, which provided for the amounts set forth in Decision No. 4241/127/30.1.2019 of the Minister of Labor, which would be added to the three-year service increments in accordance with the provisions of Law 4093/2012.
Employers argued that the three-year increments for minimum wages had been abolished, while the circular in question clarifies that the three-year increments must continue to be paid.
At the same time, the GSEE, the Federation of Nursing Institutions’ Associations, the Athens Labor Center, and the Ministry of Labor maintained that the circular is a genuine interpretive document and, for this reason, the challenge filed with the Council of State seeking for annulment, and that The three-year service awards are correctly continued and paid to the employees who are entitled to them, since no provision of law explicitly or implicitly provides for their abolition.
The Fourth Section of the Council of State, presided over by Aikaterini Christoforidou and with State Councilor Marina Papadopoulou serving as rapporteur, dismissed as inadmissible the petition filed by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) et al., concluding that the circular in question «is not enforceable because it is an interpretive circular» and adds that, through the circular in question, the Ministry of Labor provides guidance on the proper implementation of and compliance with the current legal framework, although these recommendations «are not in and of themselves binding on the recipients and do not constitute a legal obligation for them.».
At the same time, according to the Council of State, «no binding legal consequences arise from the recommendations regarding the amount of remuneration to be paid, and the contested act (editor’s note: Circular of the Ministry of Labor) does not, therefore, constitute an enforceable administrative act.».
Finally, the three-year increments for the minimum wage and daily wage are pay increases based on employees’ prior service with any employer.
In any case, the seniority allowance is equal to 10% of the minimum wage, and up to three three-year periods may be paid, as a maximum.. In any case, the amount of the seniority allowance varies depending on whether the employee is a white-collar worker or a blue-collar worker, as well as on the age of each employee.
