The changes brought about by the new Ministry of Labour and Social Security bill entitled «Strengthening occupational insurance: more opportunities for workers and businesses, extending supplementary pension savings options», quoted the Minister, Niki Kerameos, in her speech to the Standing Committee on Social Affairs of the House.
As the Minister pointed out «the bill serves a clear goal, the creation of a more modern, more functional, safer social protection framework overall for workers, businesses and pensioners. Provides workers and businesses with additional pension protection possibilities with supplementary pension benefits».
In addition, Mrs Kerameos noted that «From 2025 onwards, professional insurance funds have passed the supervision of the Bank of Greece and from there we have very important feedback, so we come and propose a bill, which strengthens the protection of insured persons, widens the available options of an existing framework, to make this simpler, more functional, more protective and more attractive for workers and businesses.».
Basic interventions
In presenting the main interventions of the draft law, the Minister highlighted three main axes:
1. Introduction of the Open Occupational Insurance Funds (TIF).
The creation of open IT centres facilitates access to professional insurance for thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises, freelancers and workers, who have to date had difficulty participating in corresponding schemes. «One of the structural changes in the bill is that it brings a complete simulation of operating conditions and supervision, between occupational insurance funds and OADES, occupational retirement group insurance products. Thus, open TEA, open POADS, to facilitate the access of thousands of businesses and workers and freelance professionals to the second supplementary vocational insurance pillar», stressed the Minister.
Farmers can now participate in supplementary pension savings through the Open Occupational Insurance Funds (TIFs) and open group insurance products, as the new institutional framework widens access to freelance professionals and self-employed persons.
2. Stronger tax incentives.
The bill establishes significant tax incentives, aligned with best international practices and makes professional insurance more attractive to workers and businesses. «Contributions to all these pension schemes, whether we are talking about occupational insurance funds, or about group insurance products, are reduced to 100%. The ceiling, in these funds in general and in these group insurance companies, increases significantly and now amounts to EUR 35,000 per year for freelancers and for employees at 35% of their annual income. The taxation of benefits is dissociated from insurance years and is now linked to the age of exit. The tax penalty is also abolished for workers who decide to enter occupational insurance at an older age. «We want as many as possible to benefit from these favourable provisions of occupational insurance.»Mrs. Kerameos mentioned.
3. Full portability of the rights.
The possibility of transferring rights between all occupational pension schemes is introduced so that each employee retains his insurance rights even when changing work or occupational insurance programme, with the Minister noting that «a fundamental element and characteristic of occupational insurance is the possibility for an employee to be able to transfer his rights from one program to another, with simple procedures. So we introduce this bill, group portability, that is, the possibility to transfer entire programs to all combinations, from TEA to TEA, from TEA to POA, from OADE to TEA, from OADE to OADE».
The Minister incorporated this reform into the Ministry's overall policy to strengthen the insurance system, pointing out that the first priority is to strengthen the first pillar of social security, namely e-EFKA and TEKA. It cited, among other things, the 563,000 more workers on the labour market than in 2019, the increase in registered retired workers from around 35,000 to more than 308,000, the recording of more than 2.7 million extra declared overtime thanks to the Digital Labour Card and the abolition of increases in insurance contributions for overtime, nighttime and holiday work, which generated a significant increase in e-EFKA revenues.
Second priority, strengthening pensioners' income with arrangements such as pension increases over the last four years, introducing an annual additional 300-euro allowance tax-free every November, abolishing the personal difference, 50% of this year, 50% of the 1/1/2027, revision of the solidarity levy and abolition of the great social injustice of widows' pensions cuts passed a few days ago in the House, while people with disabilities can now work without losing their disability pension.
Third priority, speeding up the award of pensions. «In 2019 it averaged 500 days to award a main pension. Today it takes less than 42 days to award a main pension. At the moment, a massive digitization project of 53 million stamp cards is being completed, which will lead to further acceleration of award and ancillary pensions.», noted the Minister.
Fourth priority, the significant upgrading of disability certification centres, with new structures, the reduction of outstanding requests and the acceleration of appointments and the expansion of the list of irreversible diseases for which certification is provided once.
Fifth priority, the inclusion of heavy and unhealthy, nurses, assistant nurses, drivers, ambulance helpers, rescuers in hospitals, health centers of the NSS and EKAB, meeting a decades request, as their colleagues in the private sector were already in the private sector, but some of the public were not.
In closing Mrs. Kerameos stated that: «The reform of insurance is a constant effort to ensure a system of sustainable, social law and adapted to the needs of the time. And the bill we are discussing today is moving right in this direction. It strengthens the second pillar of the insurance system, i.e. creates more options for additional pension income. More options for employees, more tools for businesses. It upgrades the protection of insured persons and contributes to the long-term strengthening of the national economy. And above all he serves a fundamental goal, that every worker can feel even more secure for his future. With these thoughts I therefore call on you to support the provisions of the bill, contributing to a reform that strengthens social security, broadens citizens' potential, strengthens the whole social security system of our country».
