Greece’s parliamentary committee on social affairs will begin debating a Labour Ministry bill on Friday, June 26, aimed at strengthening the enforcement of equal pay between men and women and transposing EU Directive 2023/970 into Greek law.

The draft legislation, submitted to Parliament on the evening of June 23 is titled “Strengthening the implementation of equal pay between men and women for the same work or work of equal value and other provisions – Transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/970 – Pension provisions.”

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the bill seeks to establish a legal obligation for employers to introduce and apply pay structures that ensure equal pay for work of equal value, using objective and gender-neutral criteria.

It also introduces pay transparency obligations before, during and after employment, regulates employees’ right of access to pay information, and establishes a requirement for employers to report data on the gender pay gap.

The bill also provides for joint assessments of company pay structures with employee representatives, strengthens institutional social dialogue on equal pay through the Supreme Labour Council, and ensures that affected workers have access to effective legal remedies and compensation procedures.

Under the proposed framework, the Greek Ombudsman will be designated as the equality body responsible for monitoring the principle of equal pay, while both the Ombudsman and the Labour Inspectorate will be strengthened to support enforcement.

Healthcare workers covered by arduous and unhealthy work regime

Part II of the bill includes a series of additional provisions. According to the report by the General Accounting Office, it provides for the creation of a digital registry of collective labour agreements within the ERGANI II information system, Greece’s digital platform for employment and labour data.

The bill also gives certain public healthcare workers the option to be included in the regime for arduous and unhealthy occupations, known in Greece as BAE, for both main and supplementary insurance.

The provision applies to workers employed in hospitals and health centres of Greece’s National Health System, ESY, as well as at EKAB, the National Emergency Aid Centre. The eligible professions are nurses, nursing assistants, drivers and ambulance paramedics who are covered by the public sector pension system.

The bill further stipulates that benefits unduly paid by e-EFKA, Greece’s electronic national social security agency, may be withheld from future pension payments by decision of the relevant public body. The amounts will be deducted in equal monthly instalments until the debt is fully repaid.

Source: ANA-MPA