“It is an important regulation, which comes to support an industry which is objectively very demanding and important.”
Significant improvements to the main and supplementary insurance scheme for old nurses, nursing assistants, ambulance drivers and ambulance assistants– rescuers will be brought by their inclusion in the heavy and unhealthy ranks, announced on Tuesday by Labour Minister Niki Kerameos.
According to reports, the legislation being prepared by the government will cover all workers in the specific specialties of EESY and EKAB who were hired before 2011, aiming to put an end to a chronic inequality, as their younger colleagues are already covered by the provisions on heavy and unhealthy occupations.
“This is an intervention that restores fairness and equal treatment for frontline staff in the public health system, satisfying a just demand of older workers who provide the same services, under the same conditions, as their younger colleagues,” a government official involved in the preparation of the regulation said.
The first estimate is thatthe potential beneficiaries are more than 23,000.
“It is a budgeted measure, absolutely within the fiscal margin ensured by the good performance of the economy and the prudent management of state resources,” added a second source with knowledge of the discussions that took place.
The benefits
After the implementation of the changes, old nurses in the public health system and old public ambulance crews will be able to fully retire up to five years earlier, at 62 years of age, provided they meet the conditions for paying the relevant contributions.
At the same time, for the first time, affiliation to supplementary insurance will be regulated in a comprehensive manner, through a single procedure with the main one, while it will also be possible to recognise and redeem earlier insurance periods, with payment either in a lump sum or in instalments.
It should be noted that, according to government officials with knowledge of the case, the insurance time that will be bought back will be counted as actual, not as plastic, so it will not be counted and will not affect the maximum amount of notional time that a worker can buy back in order to accelerate the establishment of pension entitlement.
“It is an important regulation that comes to support an industry that is objectively very demanding and important,” noted a third source, who has worked extensively on the policies that have been implemented in recent yearsin the health sector.
The same source noted that while this measure is targeted, it is part of a broader context of real support for the income of those employed in the public health system over the past six years, following interventions such as regular salary increases, the self-taxation of on-call duties and additional incentives for service in marginal areas.
