Crackdown on uninsured employment

The government Monday announced stiff penalties for businesses employing uninsured staff that may even include closure.

Fines are staggered up to 10,000 euros for each uninsured member of staff, depending on the size of the business and number of employees. That figure rises to 15,000 euros if transgressors are also found to be lacking in adequate safety precautions in the shiprepair zone of Perama, Piraeus. The business can be ordered to close in case of a repeated violation.

“We are raising fines to very high levels, making unregistered employment too costly and a particularly risky practice for businesses. These stiff sanctions will be imposed on the spot. The high rate of violations and the widespread incidence of the phenomenon are testing society’s limits of tolerance,” said Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis.

In checks conducted in the first half of the year, it was found that four in 10 workers were uninsured.