New documents needed for commuters in Greek areas under hard lockdown

All workers in Attica, Patra, Halkida, Rethymno and other areas of the country under hard lockdown will need to have with them new documents proving their employment as of Monday, February 15, 2021. The new regulations are seen as a state effort to crack down on people going out for reasons other than work despite the restrictions against the pandemic.

As of February 15, all salary workers who are not on furlough or working remotely must carry the new document from the Labor Ministry’s Ergani platform, even if the document they may currently have does not expire until a later date. According to government planning, all workers declared to be teleworking or on contract suspension have no right to an employment document; their names will be immediately rejected from the system as soon as they are punched into the platform.

Kathimerini understands the new form will have the actual working hours and declared overtime already filled in – which until now was filled in by the employer. It also maintains the validity period of the document at 14 days.

According to the relevant joint ministerial decision, “the document is supplied to workers in any case before their commuting to and from their workplace during curfew, according to their working hours.”

Commuting of freelance professionals they will either need a new declaration from the Ergani platform, or a type A document along with a printout of their income tax declaration with details of their tax registration and business activity.

Meanwhile employers whose enterprises are forced to remain closed have until Sunday, February 14, to declare the suspension of the contracts of their employees on furlough, and the names of any staff who will be working from home. [katimerini]

*thumbnail pictures of commuters crowding in public transport as no efforts to strengthen the network via athenstransport.gr

PS If the virus won’t catch us it is the bureaucracy that will kill us…