In mid-March, at the beginning of lockdown in Greece, which led to the majority of companies in the country closing, the government decided to grant an allowance of €800, paid from April onwards, to all workers whose contracts were not renewed or who were placed on partial unemployment. The Greek state also committed to providing such workers with social security cover for sickness and retirement and to pay their social security contributions (see article n°11734). Given the impact of the lockdown, the Greek government has extended some of these measures, particularly for the tourism, culture and sports sectors, which are still being heavily affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Greece’s economy ministry also unveiled an ‘employment support mechanism’ for the period from 1 June to 30 September.
This mechanism has been devised to help all companies that have seen their turnover fall by at least 20% compared to last year and new companies that had just opened before the lockdown came into force. Employers can now decide to reduce their employees’ working hours by up to 50% until 15 October. However, such firms must commit to pay at least 50% of their usual wages and to cover employees’ social security contributions based on their nominal wage. Since 1 June, employers have been able to p
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