After the elections, the Digital Employee Card enters a new orbit

The expansion of the Digital Employee Card continues unabated, although there was inevitably a temporary delay due to the elections. Immediately afterwards, the implementation process is expected to proceed for the following public entities: Hellenic Railways Organization S.A., ERGOSE S.A., Urban Rail Transport S.A., OSY S.A., OASA S.A., Transport Authority of Thessaloniki S.A., OASTH S.A., Attiko Metro S.A., Ktiriakes Ypodomes S.A., Egnatia Motorway S.A., EYDAP S.A., Hellenic Post (ELTA).

There may have been a temporary pause in the implementation of the Digital Employee Card, but with the end of the election, it is back with a vengeance. Specifically, according to press reports, one of the first actions of the new Labor Ministry leadership will be to continue one of the most emblematic reforms, extending the measure, initially to public entities and manufacturing, and then to tourism and the food industry.

The purpose of the Digital Employee Card is to combat social security evasion and undeclared work, and especially the so-called underinsured work. According to the law, the measure is to be applied to all industries. We should point out that it has already been implemented in banks, supermarkets, insurance companies and security companies, but the process was interrupted due to elections. However, we expect the expansion to be continued with a number of public utility companies related to public transportation, such as OSY, OASA, Transport Authority of Thessaloniki, OASTH and Attiko Metro, but also others such as EYDAP, ELTA, etc.

Next will be manufacturing and then the food industry and tourism, which is the biggest challenge due to the unstable working hours in these industries. It is no coincidence that these industries are also the spearhead of delinquency and lawlessness. In fact, according to data from the Labor Inspection Authority, the most common trick used by employers to escape the €10,500 fine imposed for each undeclared worker is that they declare their staff as working 4 hours, when in fact they are working 8-12 hours. The consequence is that if an inspection is carried out, the fine is €500 only for the violation of working hours.

In addition, based on the latest data for January to May 2023, the most common irregularities concern updating the staff roster, non-payment of accrued wages and non-compliance with time limits for work and rest.

It should be reminded that through the Digital Employee Card, the upgraded ERGANI II system is updated in real time with the working hours of employees and automatically identifies each working hour as regular working hours, overtime and so on, while also recording breaks, days off, holidays etc.