The new law 4997/2022 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs "Rationalization of insurance and pension legislation, strengthening of vulnerable social groups and other provisions" was passed by the Parliament. Its provisions regulate issues of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and in particular:

1. A financial aid (accuracy check) of two hundred and fifty (250) euros is provided for vulnerable social groups (pensioners, beneficiaries of disability allowance, uninsured elderly, beneficiaries of Minimum Guaranteed Income and beneficiaries of Child Benefit). A necessary condition is that the annual individual taxable income for the tax year 2022 does not exceed 9,600 euros, the annual family income does not exceed 16,800 euros and the total value of the real estate does not exceed 300,000 euros.
2. The time available to the e-EFKA in order to confirm claims from unpaid insurance contributions is reduced to 10 years (from 20 today). If the EFKA claim is not confirmed or the confirmed claim is not notified to the insured within this period, then the debts are time-barred. The statute of limitations begins on January 1 of the year following the year in which the work/service covered by the compulsory insurance was provided.
3. In relation to the increase in the main pensions, their rate of increase from 1.1.2023 will be equal to half of the sum of the annual rate of change of GDP and the average annual general consumer price index (i.e. inflation) of the previous year. It is noted that the bill clarifies that the amount of the basic pension of the OGA is set at 360 euros and from 1.1.2023 it will increase in the manner mentioned above.
4. From 1/1/2023, the reduction of insurance contributions by 3 percentage points, which was implemented for the first time in 2021 to deal with the then extraordinary conditions of the pandemic, is made permanent.
5. The monthly installments of regulated insurance debts are increased from 12 to 24, with a minimum monthly amount of 50 euros. The criminal prosecution of the debtors of regulated insurance debts is temporarily suspended for as long as the regulation is served, whereas until now it was suspended.
6. The period of special maternity protection leave is increased from six to nine months for mothers working in the private sector as employees with a fixed or indefinite employment relationship. The special provision of maternity protection is also entitled to women who have children through the process of surrogacy, as well as employees who adopt, from the time the child joins the family and up to the age of 8. The mother is entitled to transfer up to 7 months of the special maternity leave to the father if he is employed in the private sector.
7. A program to subsidize insurance contributions is established for private sector enterprises, which from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, convert part-time salaried workers' contracts into full-time employment contracts. The program concerns businesses that on September 9, 2022 employed workers with a part-time contract at a rate of more than 50%. Eligible for conversion are part-time contracts concluded until September 9, 2022. Employee and employer insurance contributions are subsidized by 40% from the state budget for the employee whose contract was converted from part-time to full-time, for an initial year starting from the first day of conversion. The date of submission of the relevant declaration to PS ERGANI is considered as the day of conversion of the contracts. A necessary condition is that the beneficiary company is tax and insurance aware during the program.
8. The employer is obliged to submit to the Ergani II information system, before its start, the schedule of the occupational doctor's and the safety technician's daily employment, registering the start and end times of this employment, in compliance with the relevant provisions on health and safety at work .
9. In relation to the operation and interconnection of TEKA and EFKA, the contributions from the e-EFKA are attributed. supplementary insurance contributions to T.E.K.A within fifteen (15) days from the completion of their liquidation and in any case within four (4) months from their collection, instead of within two (2) months from their collection as valid today. At the same time, the obligation to pay insurance contributions in favor of T.E.K.A is excluded from the possibility of offsetting with any corresponding subsidy for any reason from the state budget or from bodies of the General Government. Finally, it is provided that for the granting of proof of insurance awareness, the T.E.K.A does not take into account overdue or overdue basic debts of the applicant certified to the T.E.K.A. up to the amount of one hundred (100) euros.