From July 1, the digital work card has been gradually implemented in banks and supermarkets that employ a total of more than 250 workers, while for the rest of the businesses the census process will last from November 1 to 30, 2022, with the schedule to foresees the full and generalized implementation of the measure by next summer.

With the new regime all information on working hours, overtime, overtime, shifts, breaks, days off and leaves will be declared electronically and available at the click of a button to employees, employers and auditing authorities.

In particular, work planning and information on the actual start and end times of work will now be digitally entered into the ERGANI II system.

All planning information, as well as the Digital Work Card data for real working time will be available to employees through the myErgani mobile app, as well as through the myErgani web portal (https://myErgani.gov.gr ) and in the form of a calendar and for the first time not only will the leaves be recorded in real time but also the concept of hourly leave will be introduced.

In other words, the actual working time will be recorded. Employees will be able to declare their arrival and departure from work also through an application by scanning their Work Card that will be displayed on the mobile phone in QR code format (just as was done with vaccination certificates), and the information will be automatically transmitted to the ERGANI II system.

With the Digital Card, the objective of the Ministry of Labor is to guarantee the working hours and wages of the workers as two new safeguards are introduced since the start and end of work will be automatically notified to the ERGANI II system. In this way, the auditor will know before visiting a workplace which employees should be there and thus the audit will be done with automatic and objective procedures that will prevent phenomena of declared - undeclared work and unpaid overtime such as cases where the employer asks the employee not to "punch" the card when attending, or to declare departure but remain at work. In the same context, the introduction of new fines by SEPE, which reach up to €10,500.00, in the event that during an inspection an employee is found not to have "punched" his card, even if his employment has been properly announced .

As defined by the relevant ministerial decision:

• All businesses and employers in the country are required to have and operate an electronic system for measuring the working time of their employees with a contract or dependent labor relationship, directly connected and interoperable, in real time, with the P.S. INSTRUMENT II. The measurement of working time is carried out using a digital work card.
• During the first phase of the implementation of the digital work card system, only companies belonging to the Supermarket sector and employing a total of more than 250 workers at the time of publication of this, as well as all the Banks of the Country, are compulsorily included in said system . The companies-employers in question have been obliged to have and activate, respectively, a digital work card system for all their employees with a contract or a dependent work relationship, who are employed with a physical presence in the place of work of the company, including the employees who are employed to businesses through lending.
• Businesses-employers must carry out the inventory process of the digital organization of working time in PS ERGANI II, for all their employees with a contract or a dependent labor relationship, who are employed by the business, including loaned staff. The inventory process of the digital organization of working time for these companies - employers begins on November 1, 2022 and must be completed by November 30, 2022.

At this point it is worth noting the confusion that has been created between the clarifications of PS ERGANIS and the Decision of the Minister of Labour. In particular, according to the clarifications of 7/19 of PS ERGANI, "the digital timekeeping system will be applied only to employees with a physical presence. So for someone who starts and/or completes his work at the premises of the company where he works, the work card is normally valid", at the moment the Ministerial Decision states "for all employees with a contract or a dependent work relationship, including temporary staff ".

At the same time, the clarifications of 19/7 of PS ERGANI state "The declaration of the start/end of the Work Card will be able to be submitted with a maximum delay time

At the same time, the questions remain without answers:

• What about contract staff?
• What is the hourly leave and what is the institutional framework?
• Has the automatic completion of the APD been linked to the data of the actual employment calendar as announced in the presentation of ERGANI II?