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The Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Mr.Yannis Panagiotou, presented today, Tuesday, at a press conference, the report and the planning of the implementation of the government's work in the Ministry for the first year and the second year of the government respectively.
The Minister referred to the significant people-oriented results that have been achieved, with emphasis on enhanced remuneration for employees, improved working conditions, better service to citizens and greater support for young workers. In addition, he presented detailed data on the acceleration of the payment of unemployment benefits, according to which the process has been speeded up. Now, more than 80% of claimants receive the first payment in about a month and a half from the first renewal of their registration in the unemployment register, as opposed to the long delays of the past.
Panagiotou then presented the Ministry of Labour's people-centred programming for the second year of government, based on better regulation of terms and conditions of work, more effective staffing of the labour market, further support for working parents, faster response to citizens' needs, drastic action against illegal work, investment in learning and development of workers, strategic upgrading of safety at work and methodical preparation of the labour market for the second year of government. We have improved the conditions for safe and decent work, with more flexibility and the use of technology. We upgraded our service to citizens quickly and efficiently. We provided more support to young workers to gain work experience, to develop their skills and to build their families.
The methodical implementation of the Governance Programme will continue in line with the popular mandate received by the President of the Republic to implement people-centred policies and transition to a new political era. Criticism is useful and constructive, combined with constant self-criticism, in order to become better and more effective. In the first year of governance, steady steps forward have been taken and important people-centred results have been achieved. We will continue the daily contact with citizens, the ongoing dialogue with society and the meaningful consultation with political forces to strengthen cooperation and build the unity that our country needs to move towards the future with security and optimism."
The following is the introductory statement of the Minister of Labour at today's press conference.
"The completion of one year since the 2023 Presidential Elections, during which the citizens elected President Christodoulides to the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus allows for an assessment of the results achieved, in line with the popular mandate to implement people-centred policies and the transition of the country to a new political era.
The assessment of the first year of the Government is positive and the evaluation is confirmed by the results of the Government's policy on the country's major challenges and important issues.
Abroad, the success of the diplomatic initiative on the humanitarian corridor to Gaza strengthens the geopolitical role of our country.
In the economy, the upgrade in the investment grade by all international rating agencies confirms the prudent fiscal policy.
In energy, the resumption of work on the gas receiving terminal facilities accelerates the decoupling from oil.
In migration, education, health and many other areas, long-standing problems have been resolved and important results have been achieved through the implementation of the Governance Programme, with the cooperation of the political parties supporting the Government and the formation of broader political consensus.
The culmination of the formation of broader political consensus was the adoption of the State Budget for 2024, the first submitted by the Christodoulides Government, with the largest majority in decades, while many government policies were implemented following unanimous or majority decisions of the House of Representatives.
In the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance in particular, we achieved significant people-centred results that practically affected thousands of middle-class citizens and vulnerable social groups, in accordance with the needs of society and the potential of the economy, by methodically implementing the President's Governance Programme.
We have preserved industrial peace and upgraded social dialogue with the social partners, proposing solutions and reaching agreements that ensure normality and stability in labour relations.
We have strengthened earnings for thousands of workers, small and medium and low-paid:
The Agreement on the increased rate of payment of the ATA benefited 180,000 workers and 60,000 beneficiaries of social benefits; the Decree on the increase of minimum wages for 19 professions in the hotel industry benefited 5,000 hotel workers; and the Decree on the increase of the National Minimum Wage to €1,000 benefited 25.
We improved the conditions for safe and decent work, with more flexibility and the use of technology:
With the Law on the use of teleworking by organisations and companies, with the Decree on the interruption of work due to heat in transport and on construction sites, and with the Law on the protection of workers from prolonged standing.
We improved the conditions for safe and decent work, with more flexibility and the use of technology.
We upgraded our service to citizens, quickly and efficiently:
By paying the statutory pension within one month for 6,000 new pensioners per year, eliminating the long delays of the past; by responding to 95% of incoming calls to the call centre, which totalled some 220,000 calls, as opposed to the thousands of unanswered calls of previous years, and a 60% acceleration in the processing of employers' requests for work permits for third-country nationals, which had been delayed by several months over the years.
In addition, I would like to refer specifically to the acceleration of the payment of unemployment benefits, according to the latest statistics of the Social Security Services, which show that now more than 80% of unemployed people receive the first payment of unemployment benefits within one and a half months after the first renewal of their registration in the unemployment register.
Specifically, applications for unemployment benefits submitted between October 2023 and January 2024 amount to 19,116, of which 93.7%, or 17,916, have been examined, of which 16,124, or 90%, have been approved and 1,792, or 10%, have been rejected.
It is clarified that the main reasons why the pending applications have not yet been examined are related to the need for the applicants to submit data requested to be provided by the Social Security Services YKA, such as the completed employer questionnaire and the certificate with a Bank Account number.
In particular, the percentage of applications for which the examination has been completed is distributed as follows: 95.1% for October 2023, 98% for November 2023, 94.4% for December 2023 and 83.9% for January 2024.
In addition, it is noted that from 1/10/2023 - 1/31/2024, 10.644 applications for unemployment benefits from claimants in the hotel industry, of which 96% have already been processed.
We have provided more support for young workers to gain work experience, develop their skills and raise their families: By agreeing to a €100 pay rise for 500 young trainee lawyers and engineers, by launching contracts for green and digital skills development programmes for 34,000 participants, and by the law to increase maternity leave to five and a half months for 5.000 new working mothers who will be able to stay at home for another month with their newborn child.
The methodical implementation of the Governance Programme will continue, in line with the popular mandate received by the President of the Republic for the transition to a new political era. Criticism is useful and constructive, combined with constant self-criticism in order to become better and more effective. In the first year of governance, steady steps forward have been taken and important people-centred results for citizens have been achieved. We will continue our daily contact with citizens, ongoing dialogue with society, and meaningful consultation with political forces to strengthen cooperation and build the unity that our country needs to move into the future with security and optimism.
We continue the second year of the Governance Programme through people-centred planning for the future of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.
Together with the social partners we will succeed in preserving labour peace, further strengthening tripartite social cooperation and social dialogue, renewing pending agreements and shaping together major new social agreements.
I am confident that under the guidance of the President of the Republic and in cooperation with the relevant ministries, through political dialogue with the political forces, social dialogue with the social partners and daily direct contact with citizens, we will achieve more people-centred results for citizens.
As part of the Ministry of Labour's programming for the second year of government.
We are effectively staffing the labour market, making more use of domestic human resources to strengthen the Cypriot backbone of the economy, with targeted plans to be implemented immediately, attracting European workers, modernising the employment policy for foreign students and bilateral agreements with third countries.
We support working parents more, with a bill for the payment of parental leave allowance to self-employed parents, for the age extension and targeted increase of parental leave, for the immediate payment and increase of the amount paid for childbirth allowance, and with the modernization of the Demographic Policy Body.
We are responding faster to citizens' needs by updating the two-way communication of citizens with the public service and further accelerating all procedures concerning citizens, starting with the childbirth allowance and continuing with sickness benefits and the widow's pension.
We are effectively tackling illegal work by tightening penalties and increasing controls by 65%, proceeding with the electronic census of all workers and implementing a campaign to inform young people about the value of social security, in the context of the National Year of Youth.
We are investing in employee learning and development by implementing training programmes focusing on green and digital skills for 34,000 trainees, upgrading the framework for the certification of professional qualifications to promote specialisation, and linking the knowledge and learning of the Greek language with the issuance and renewal of work permits for third-country nationals.
We are strategically upgrading safety at work by tightening safety levels in facilities with hazardous substances to avoid large-scale accidents and by promoting the agreement on pre-training in safety and health as a prerequisite for working on construction sites.
We are working methodically on pension reform by launching the reform processes with the support of the International Labour Organization, correcting distortions and solving problems with interventions such as targeted relief for the actuarial reduction of early pensions, and reorganizing the agencies that will oversee the strengthened second pillar of the pension system."
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For the speech of the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance, click here.
(ΕΠ/АΦ)
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