1. Ministerial Decision No 90972/15.11.2021 (Government Gazette No 5393, B’, 19.11.2021) regarding the abolition of employer’s obligation to declare employees’ overwork working hours and for the determination of the criteria to consider an employee as Managerial Employee
2. Ministerial Decision regarding the payment of minimum compensation by the employer to remote workers
1. Ministerial Decision No 90972/15.11.2021
Abolition of the declaration of overwork as of Monday, 29th November
As of 29 November 2021, the employer’s obligation to declare overwork (yperergasia) is abolished, whereas employers are still obliged to register overtime with ERGANI (i.e. working hours extending beyond overwork).
Determination of criteria to consider an employee as Managerial
Ministerial Decision No. 90972/15.11.2021 (ΦΕΚ 5393, Β΄, 19.11.2021) of the Ministry of Labor determines for the first time the conditions that would make an employee a Managerial one. The conditions required for such a characterization are a specialization of the managerial capacities pursuant to article 2(a) of the International Labour Agreement of Washington Conference, which was ratified by Law 2269/1920.
Particularly, employees who hold a supervisory or managerial or confidential position, are assumed to be those employees who, pursuant to explicit conditions in their employment agreement and a relevant registration with Information System “ERGANI”:
A.
a) exert the employer’s managerial right over the rest employees of the company, or
b) represent and bind the company towards third parties, or
c) are members of the Board of Directors or of a relevant management body of the company-employer, or
d) are shareholder or partners, holding over 0.5% of employer’s voting rights, or
B.
are in charge of Directorates, Units, or Departments, or of any other independent bodies of the company-employer determined in the organizational chart of the company, provided that the company-employer entrusts them with the oversight of material functions and that they are paid with the contractual monthly wage at least six times the statutory minimum wage, or
C.
are paid with the contractual monthly wage at least eight times the statutory minimum wage.
Characterizing an employee as a Managerial Employee is very important because these employees are exempt from a part of employment regulations, including mainly the working hours (thus they are not entitled to overwork/overtime pay), annual holiday etc.
The registration of the Managerial Employee’s capacity with the Information System “ERGANIS” is effected as follows:
a) in case of new recruitments, it is registered with a special field in the Hiring Notification Form,
b) in case of an existing recruitment, it is registered with a special field in the Personnel Table. This is also the case for the loss of the Managerial Employee’s capacity, which also needs to be registered asap.
The Ministerial Decision provides that the entry into force of the above-mentioned kicks-off as of 30 November 2021.
2. Announcement regarding the payment of minimum compensation by the employer to remote workers
The Press Office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs issued an announcement according to which the minimum compensation due to remote workers by the employer was determined by a Decision of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Kostis Chatzidakis. Such compensation aims at covering costs of equipment, of telecommunications, and of usage of employees' home for work.
Pursuant to the MD, the monthly minimum amount due to remote workers is specified as follows:
- For the usage of home workplace, €13,00
- For the covering of the telecommunications cost, €10,00
- For the maintenance of equipment, €5,00
It is noted that the minimum amount of compensation for each case was determined on the basis of a special report (cost study) prepared by PWC on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The amount referring to telecommunication costs is not due, in case the employer covers the relevant cost directly, through a separate agreement with the network provider of mobile and telephone communication. Furthermore, referring to the equipment maintenance is not provided either if the employer provides the equipment.
The MD also stipulates that if remote working is provided by the employee for less than 22 days per month, then the employer will pay only 1/22 of the costs per remote working day.
Lastly, article 67 of Law 4808/2021 provides that the relevant costs do not constitute wages, but a deductible expenditure for the company-employer, they are not subject to any kind of taxation, nor are any employee’s or employer’s social security contributions due thereon.
