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Greece Gets Tough on Employee Rights Violations Ahead of Tourism Season
Posted On 13 May 2022
Tag: c245c, c80034c, Craftsmen & Merchants (GSEVEE), employment rules, Greece hotels, Greece tourism infrastructure, Greece tourism ministry, Greece tourism policy, Greece tourism staff shortages, Greece tourism strategy, Greece working conditions, Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE), Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, INSETE, Kostis Hatzidakis, Labor Inspection Body (SEPE), labor ministry Greece, Olympia Anastasopoulou, Panhellenic Federation of Catering and Tourist Industry Employees (POEET), post-Covid-19, post-COVID-19 Greece, safety regulations Greece tourism, tourism and travel, tourism and travel Greece, Vassilis Kikilias
Special units from Greece’s Labor Inspection Body (SEPE) will be carrying out heightened checks at hotels to ensure that labor laws and security regulations are being implemented as part of a joint action plan launched by the tourism and labor ministries this month.
“This issue has to do with both employee rights but also with the image of Greece. Images that reflect workers not being treated properly have a negative impact on both the enterprises and the country,” said Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis during a meeting with Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, Secretary General for Tourism Policy, Olympia Anastasopoulou, and representatives from the Panhellenic Federation of Catering and Tourist Industry Employees (POEET) and the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen & Merchants (GSEVEE).
The ministers stressed that penalties will be strict in cases of violations.
In the meantime, actions are being taken to cover extensive staff shortages at tourism-related businesses which appear to be the result of poor working conditions as cited by POEET president last month. There are currently some 50,000 jobs still open ahead of the tourism season launch.
Hatzidakis said it was a government priority to ensure collective labor agreements were being applied at operations mainly in the food and beverages sector and that talks were underway to make these agreements mandatory as is the case in the accommodation sector.
“This will serve as a positive message for workers, a message of justice,” he said, calling on all stakeholders to be cooperative.
To address the issue, the government announced last week that it was accelerating efforts to address the shortages in tourism by inviting sector businesses to declare open positions for the June-August period until May 31 to the Public Employment Service (DYPA), which will in turn recommend qualified individuals from its ranks by June 15. Earlier this year, the government had announced that it would open 50,000 jobs in tourism to Greek expatriates or to Ukrainian refugees.
The people working in tourism are our ambassadors, said Kikilias, adding that “the first booking and arrivals figures are encouraging. We are therefore called on to defend but also strengthen the ‘locomotive’ of the Greek economy in the best possible way, defending the interests of both employees and companies in the industry”.
A study released in March by INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research body found that tourism and hospitality businesses in Greece were unable find employees to meet the demands of the tourism season in 2021. Citing Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP) and Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH) research, 22 percent – or one in five positions at hotel businesses were vacant in 2021.
During the peak of the summer last year across the country, 53,249 jobs remained vacant out of a total of 244,124 jobs available. More than half of the unfilled positions concerned waiters and waitresses, receptionists, assistant waiters, laundry, baristas and technical support, and maintenance, with the highest demand for housekeeping.
There are a few problems connected to the staff issue,which are easy to solve,and should be one of the first things addressed when trying to make the whole system work.Firstly with so many positions to fill in the hotel industry, training is necessary if you want all departments to work smoothly as one,and as its usually the lowest paid employees that are the most crucial in this system, changes need to be made,whether its wages,benefits or just consideration.
By training your employees in the way you want your business run and showing them all what is expected and how they will be treated in return gives you a better chance of keeping them on a long term basis. Its really as basic as happy employees,=better work in return=happier clients=better profits.
Staff food is a huge problem,which always gets blamed on budget. Ask any house wife how she manages to provide a nutritional, economic and varied diet to a critical family;it is possible.
An army marches on its stomach,and finding a solution to the problem of feeding staff well is a priority.
I’ve worked in the industry from 18yrs old and now my children are doing the same,and the problems are the same. Maybe its time for employers to look deeper into their enterprises,and realise the answers to getting better results are not that difficult to find.