The measures announced yesterday by the President of the Republic were analyzed today at a press conference by the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance Zeta Aimilianidou, noting that this is a package of 10 meters of total expenditure over 340 million euros, which fall into 4 main areas (small youth unemployment, hotel industry and social cohesion) and to be implemented by the beginning of 2014.
"We try with these measures not to curb unemployment, as this will be done only with a restart of the economy and after the financial system stabilizes and growth comes, but to relieve our fellow citizens and create as many jobs as possible by applying for the first time. the policy for subsidizing work and not unemployment "said the Minister of Labor.
Asked whether with the implementation of the measures and actions of the Ministry the unemployment rate will be reduced below the forecasts for 19,5%, Ms. Aimilianidou answered that based on current data unemployment has increased very little in the last eight months. As he said today, unemployment is at 16,9%, while in fact the forecasts spoke of much higher unemployment.
He also explained that the financing of most of the announced measures will be done through the European Social Fund at a rate of 95% and with national resources at a rate of 5%.
Small and medium enterprises
To support small and medium-sized enterprises, the Ministry of Labor has prepared three plans, concerning the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Fund, the granting of employment in sustainable retail enterprises employing from 1 to 4 people (including the self-employed) and the subsidy of combined internships. employment in retail companies employing from 1 to 49 people.
The first plan, which concerns the establishment of an Entrepreneurship Fund, envisages the establishment of this fund with a total capital of 300 million euros, of which 150 million will come from the European Investment Bank and 150 from national resources.
The second plan will benefit 1.000 retail businesses employing one to four people, by subsidizing 70% of the existing employee's salary cost per business.
According to the Minister of Labor, the sponsorship will be granted for the first ten months of employment with the commitment of the employer to continue the employment for two additional months without a grant. The budget of the Plan amounts to 7 million euros.
According to the Minister of Labor, 1.000 unemployed people who receive unemployment benefits and who will be placed in companies for a period of time will benefit from the Internship Plan subsidy combined with employment in Retail companies that employ from one to forty-nine people. one month for traineeship purposes while continuing to receive their unemployment benefit. As Ms. Emilianidou explained, the companies that will employ the unemployed who will provide training at their place of work, will receive a subsidy of 50% of his salary costs, for a period of six months, with the obligation of the employer for additional employment of the employee for two months. The total budget of the Plan will be 3 million euros.
Youth unemployment
In order to curb youth unemployment, which according to the Minister of Labor is over 40%, the Ministry of Labor has prepared two plans aimed at gaining work experience in order to improve their employment prospects.
The first plan essentially concerns the re-announcement of the Plan for placement of unemployed new graduates for gaining work experience in companies / organizations.
As the Minister of Labor explained, the Plan will benefit 2.500 unemployed young graduates up to 35 years of age, who will be offered the opportunity to gain six months of work experience and after the end of this period will be given certification of their work experience. 8,5 million euros will be allocated for the Plan.
The second plan is the Plan to place unemployed young graduates of Gymnasiums, Lyceums, Technical Schools and Post-Secondary Education up to two years of work experience in companies / organizations that aims to strengthen the efforts of young people who try to enter the market without work essentially have special specialization.
As the Minister of Labor explained, the Plan will operate with the same terms and conditions as the Plan for unemployed young graduates and aims to provide employment opportunities to 2.500 unemployed young people in 2014, for a period of six months. And for this Plan 8,5 million euros will be allocated.
Hotel Industry
Two plans have been prepared by the Ministry of Labor for the hotel industry.
The first is the Extraordinary Training Plan for Hotel Employees who are on full or partial suspension of work during the period November 2013-March 2014 and aims to provide training opportunities to employees of hotel units who are in partial or total suspension of work during the period November 2013 - March 2014 but also the upgrade of the tourist product.
According to what the Minister of Labor explained, the hotel units that will participate in the Plan will pay the trainees a training allowance equal to the normal salary of the trainee while the Social Security Services will pay the hotel unit, as a principle of implementation of the training program, the unemployed to which trainees are entitled.
The second plan is the Vocational Education and Training Program for Newly Hired Unemployed in the Hotel Industry Sector and concerns the long-term unemployed beyond 12 months.
Under the plan, the hotels will locate unemployed people registered at the offices of the Public Employment Service and meet the criteria of the Program until 31/5/2014. The hotels are obliged to sign an employment contract at the end of the 2nd week of the training period with the trainees, which will last at least 6 consecutive months and on the condition that the newly hired will be in addition to the permanent and permanent seasonal staff.
The unemployed will be provided with an allowance of € 125 per week while the hotels that will join the Program will be compensated for the cost of organizing and implementing the training programs, including the cost of the trainers.
The total budget of the Plan amounts to 2 million euros and the goal is to employ 1.500 unemployed people.
Social cohesion
Aiming to combat social exclusion, the Ministry of Labor is announcing three projects that will help people with disabilities, vulnerable groups, and at the same time create new jobs.
These plans concern the provision of care to low-income retirees, the subsidy of childcare services and the formulation of social economy actions and programs.
The first plan aims to meet the care needs of low-income retirees by subsidizing the cost of care.
The total budget of the project amounts to 1,8 million euros and is addressed to 1000 low-income retirees.
The second plan aims to support the economically weaker groups of the population and social cohesion and is aimed at workers whose wages are so low that work is unprofitable or for the unemployed who want to join the labor market. The project aims to provide care services to 1.000 families and has a total budget of 4 million euros.
Finally, the third plan for strengthening social cohesion concerns the Formulation of Actions and Social Economy Programs. "Today in Europe the social economy represents 10% of European companies and 10% of total employment," he said.
The project's budget was set at 6 million euros and the goal is to subsidize 180 social enterprises. The subsidy will amount to a maximum of 30 thousand euros per company for the first year of operation to cover their operating expenses. Expertise will also be provided for the operation and management of these businesses.
Related actions
The Minister of Labor explained that the Government and the Ministry of Labor are promoting a series of related actions, which include, inter alia, the fight against undeclared work, the revision of the social welfare system with the introduction of the Minimum Guaranteed Income, the strengthening of Social Dialogue , the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, the creation of new structures in the Ministry of Labor to effectively address the problems of our fellow citizens, equal treatment in working conditions, and ensuring the rights of workers and the payment of their wages.
Combating undeclared work
As she explained, in a recent meeting in Greece with her Greek counterpart, it was agreed that Greece would provide Cyprus with the computerized systems it has created in the last 8 months, including the ERGANI system, which, in real time, records the workflow. of employees and redundancies.
As he mentioned, in about 10 days, technocrats will come from the Ministry of Labor of Greece to install ERGANI and to inform the people in charge at the Cypriot Ministry of Labor.
The Minister of Labor stressed that the intention of the Government is to proceed with the amendment of the legislation so that very large fines are imposed on those who employ staff who do not register with the Social Security Services.
Minimum Guaranteed Income
The Minister of Labor stated that the goal of the Government is to adopt the Minimum Guaranteed Income on July 1, 2014, which, as she said, will bring change to what currently exists in the field of social welfare.
"Today the system that is being implemented cannot cope and solve the problems of thousands of our fellow citizens who live in poverty and face serious problems," he said.
Guarantee for Youth
The Minister of Labor assured that by the end of 2013 the Government should send its program for the implementation of the Recommendation "Guarantee for Youth" for which large sums will be allocated from the EU Structural Funds so that every unemployed young person who loses his job or finishes school, to be able to have an opportunity for employment, internship or training within 4 months.
He also assured that the implementation of the Youth Guarantee will begin in early 2014.
Campaign for payment of wages and effort for timely payment of unemployment benefits
During the conference, the Minister of Labor stated that officials of the Ministry of Labor have already started the inspections in the workplaces with the aim of "no employee being left unpaid".
Answering a question regarding what happens in the case of companies that can not pay salaries, Ms. Aimilianidou stressed that based on the data available to the Ministry of Labor, most of these companies have come to an agreement and mutual compromises with the their employees for payment of part of the salary.
He said that in the last nine months, 303 criminal cases have been filed for non-payment of salaries.
In this context, as he explained, the examination of the applications of redundant staff, which had been submitted until April 2013, has been completed. "Our effort will not stop here.
Immediate Response Office
An Office has been set up at the Administration of the Ministry of Labor to deal with citizens' emergencies. In addition to the procedures of the Departments, requests are received in the form of urgency, they are evaluated and every day the Ministry of Labor responds to these requests by providing assistance to many citizens. The telephone number that citizens can contact for urgent needs is 22401753.