Unemployment & Insurance subsidies of self-employed

Beneficiaries of the subsidy are the self-employed and independently employed, who are insured in the e-EFKA - section ETAA (section TSMEDE, TSAY and Attorneys' Insurance fund), as long as they have paid the special contribution provided for in Law 3986 /11 (art. 44 par. 2), as it applies, i.e. the contribution from 01.01.2011 to the Special Unemployment Account for the Self-Employed and Independently Employed, which has been established at the Greek Public Employment Organization.

The above conditions must be met at the time of submission of the application for the granting the subsidy and throughout the duration of its granting.To grant this subsidy, the following conditions must be cumulatively met:

1) a) proven interruption of professional activity (the condition in question may be met in the case of every insured person of the ETAA, in conjunction with the condition under b).But, especially in cases of insured persons of the Pension and Health Insurance Sector (TSAY) who are compulsorily covered by the insurance of the above Sector as members of companies or boards of directors of joint-stock companies (see art. 2 par. 2 Law 982 /79, as added by art. 18 par. 4 Law 3232/04), the specific condition is necessary.

or

b) annual net individual taxable income of the beneficiary from the exercise of professional activity during the tax year preceding the year of submission of the application for the grant of the subsidy, which does not exceed 60% of the amount corresponding to the basic salary of an unmarried employee over 25 years of age, based on an annual basis and in addition not exercising a professional activity during the six months preceding the month in which the application for granting the subsidy is submitted .

• for example in case of submitting an application based on condition b) (income criterion) within the year 2023, the critical clearance note is the one of tax year 2022.
• according to the applicable minimum employee salary and given that as of 01/02/19 the age discrimination no longer applies, the above-mentioned upper limit of annual income amounts to the amount of €5,616 (780.00 * 60% * 12)

2) The completion of three (3) years of continuous or intermittent salaried or self-employed insurance in ETAA (see. TSMEDE, TSAY, Attorneys' Insurance Fund), to which they belong on the date of submission of the application for the grant of the aid or upon cessation of professional activity.

3) Payment of the contribution provided for in Law 3986/11 (art. 44 par. 2, as applicable), in favor of the Special Unemployment Account for the Self-Employed and Independently Employed - Section of ETAA persons insured for at least three (3) years of continuous or intermittent insurance in the ETAA Section to which they belong until the date of submission of the application for the grant of the aid or upon cessation of professional activity. Especially for the insured persons in the main insurance branch of the ETAA on 01/01/2011 payment of the above contribution is required for at least one (1) year, provided that the interruption of professional activity took place until 31/12/2012 or payment of the above contribution for at least two (2) years, as long as the interruption of the professional activity took place until 31/12/2013. The interruption in both of the aforementioned cases must continue until the submission of the application for the grant of the aid. The above also applies to the cases of insured persons who had stopped their professional activity until 31/12/2010 and are re-insured in the main insurance branch of the ETAA after 01/01/2011. In these cases, the required time to pay the special contribution is determined from the date of re-registration in the ETAA. 

4)The non-provision of dependent work or self-employment either within the country or abroad, except for self-employment for which a subsidy is granted based on the income criterion 1 section b above.

5) The non-inclusion in the compulsory or optional insurance of the e-EFKA or any other national or foreign main insurance institution.

6) The non-reception of a pension from e-EFKA or any national or foreign main insurance institution or not submitting an application for retirement to the above institutions, except in cases of retirement or submitting an application for retirement due to death.

7) The non-interruption of the professional activity of the beneficiary in order to serve in the military or to join the University for undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral studies.

8) The total individual net taxable income from any source of the two tax years preceding the year of submission of the application must not cumulatively exceed the amount of thirty thousand Euros (€30,000.00) and the total family net taxable income from any source of the two tax years before the year of submission of the application must not exceed the cumulative amount of forty thousand Euros(€40,000.00).

9) The beneficiary is required not to have transferred the business or his/her share or shares in the business, which belonged to a spouse or a person of the first and second degrees of kinship.

10) They must have permanent residence in Greece.

The submission of the application is made within a subversive period of three (3) months from the date of issuance of the EFKA certificate described in the Supporting Documents and exclusively in the following ways:

• through the Greek Public Employment Service's e-services
• through a Citizens' Service Centre

The delivery of the decision is made either through the individual account at e-services of the Greek Public Employment Service or by the competent Service. 

a) certificate from the competent e-EFKA services certifying

• the date of insurance termination (it goes without saying that the date of insurance termination is not included in the e-EFKA certificate, in the event that the insured requests the subsidy based on the condition under 1 b) (income criterion)
• the time of insurance in the e-EFKA (t. Sector ETAA), on the basis of which an application for the subsidy is submitted
• the time of payment to the above Sector of the contribution in favor of the Self-Employed Special Account and Independently Employed – Insured branch v. ETAA

b) clearance notes of the two (2) last tax years before the submission of applications to receive the subsidy where the global income (of national origin and any foreign origin) of the beneficiary has been declared, the main residential address, the VAT No. and the spouse's income (if any). In case that income was obtained or not in another country within two years before the application, a certificate from the foreign tax authority for the amount of said income, duly certified and translated, must be submitted.

Indicatively, it is stated that in order to submit an application within the year 2023, the clearance notes for the years 2021 and 2022 must be presented.

* The relevant supporting document will be presented until completion of interoperability with IAPR

c) When the subsidy is granted based on condition under 1 b) (income criterion), the service provision slip and photocopies of the VAT returns to check the non-existence of income from professional activity during the intended semester of the month the application must be submitted in order to receive the subsidy, as well as for the control and determination of the subsidy paid during the period of its granting).

d) a solemn statement under Law 1599/86 of the beneficiary, declaring hat the conditions for granting the subsidy are met and that the beneficiary became aware of his applications during his subsidy (see here the text of the FD for the BENEFICIARY DUE TO INTERRUPTION OF OCCUPATION and here for the BENEFICIARY DUE TO INCOME CRITERIA). The beneficiary also declares the former Sector from which he/she wishes to become a beneficiary of the subsidy in case of simultaneous interruption of his/her two independent professions. (The ID is included in the online application. In case of submitting an application through a Citizens' Service Centre, it must be issued by it.

e) For the certification of permanent residence in Greece required:

• for citizens of EU member states, "Document of certification of permanent residence of a citizen of Union" (art. 16 P.D. 106/07), issued by the Directorate of Aliens of the Hellenic Police Headquarters, after 5 years of continuous legal residence
• for citizens of third countries legally residing in Greece, "Permit. long-term residence permit" (art. 90 L. 4251/14) or residence permit of a parent of a minor citizen (art. 87 L. 4251/14) or ten-year residence permit (art. 138 L. 4251/14) or permit spouse of an EU citizen (art. 13 Presidential Decree 106/07)
• especially for third-country nationals who have been granted political asylum, Residence permit of a recognized political refugee or family member of such permit holder and travel document (titre de voyage) issued in accordance with Article 28 of the Geneva Convention
• for expatriates from third countries, "Special Identity Card for Expatriates" or card or other document of residence of expatriates of any type or independent residence permit of repatriated or repatriated or homogenized

f) Proof of identity (In case of submitting the application through KEP)

• for Greek citizens, Police Identity Card or relevant temporary certificate from the competent authority or passport or driving license or individual health book
• for citizens of EU member states, an identity card or passport
• for citizens of third countries, a passport or other document, on the basis of which their entry into the country is allowed or the documents issued by the competent Greek authorities

By submitting the application, the applicant receives a copy of the application form, with which he/she is informed of the date of receipt of the relevant decision.

In case that, during the examination of the application, the Service does not find the necessary information that it is looking for ex officio or finds that additional supporting documents are needed, it must contact the citizens insured in order to provide those document within a period of twenty (20) days. If they do not respond, the Service may proceed to the issuance of a rejection decision 3 months after the notification, unless there is an objective inability to present the supporting documents, for which the citizens are not responsible.

After processing of the application, a decision is issued by the Service, either approving or rejecting, which the citizen receives from the Service to which he/she is subjet, while the decision is also displayed on the Greek Public Employment Service's e-services

The approving decision records

• new specific time intervals, during which the citizen has the obligation to declare at the Greek Public Employment Service his/her presence
• the duration of the subsidy
• the amount of the subsidy

The declaration of attendance is the self-submission at Ordinary intervals of a solemn statement (see here the text of the Ministry of Health for the BENEFICIARY DUE TO INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS and here for the BENEFICIARY BASED ON THE INCOME CRITERION) by the citizen to fulfill the subsidy conditions, as stated and when submitting his application. The declaration of attendance is

• submitted on the third month of each quarter (month of attendance):
  • until the issuance of the decision regarding the application, the third month is calculated from the date of submission of the application
  • after the issuance of the approving decision and the third month is calculated
  • from the start date of the subsidy from the issuance of the approval decision, the months of presence, as calculated during the application, cease to be valid.
  • the months of presence are reflected in the application, in the approving decision and in the Greek Public Employment Service's e-services.. The months of presence are reflected on the online services, which incorporate any changes that may arise with the issuance of an approving decision.
• This is done by all insured persons, whether their subsidy has been approved or is pending
• it is linked to the Ordinary payment of the citizen's allowances:
  • if the presence is declared, the right to collect the allowance corresponding to the month of attendance and the two following monthly allowances is reserved
  • If the presence is not declared, the allowance corresponding to the month of presence will be forfeited and for the payment of the next two monthly allowances the next declaration of attendance will be pending.
  • If the presence is not declared for two consecutive months, the allowance is interrupted.

• It no longer constitutes an obligation, when a rejection decision is issued
• and the application process is extremely simple. Insured persons come to the the Greek Public Employment Services, declare that they have met the subsidy conditions and sign the relevant document. The first in-person declaration of attendance is made at the Service, to which the insured person is sibject while the rest at any KPA2 Service.

However, while the extraordinary restrictive measures of the coronavirus still apply, the declaration of attendance is made through the Greek Public Employment Service's e-services without prejudice of reading the text of the solemn statement. If the month of presence has passed, its electronic declaration is not possible.

The payment duration of the subsidy depends on the total number of insurance years (continuous or interrupted) in the e-EFKA - ETAA Sectors (TSMEDE, TSAY, Attorneys' Insurance Fund) as follows:

The amount of the subsidy is fixed at €479.00 per month and is adjusted with the basic monthly amount of the Ordinary unemployment subsidy. There is no provision for an increase depending on the number of protected members of the beneficiary's family, nor the payment of corresponding Christmas/New Year's and Easter gifts, nor the payment of insurance contributions to the competent insurance institution throughout the payment of the subsidy.

Especially in case of eligibility for the subsidy based on the condition 1 b) (income criterion), if the beneficiary exercises (as he has the right to) a professional activity during the receipt of the subsidy then an amount of monthly subsidy is paid equal to the difference between the monthly allowance (€479.00) and the net income resulting from the exercise of professional activity during the previous calendar month. If the above check results in the payment of subsidies that are not entitled to, they are offset with subsidies that will be paid in the following month or months, and if these are not sufficient, they are sought as unduly paid.

The inclusion of the insured person in the subsidy starts from the date of submission of the relevant timely application and the right to collect the first two monthly subsidies is reserved. The monthly allowances are paid "in full", i.e. from the day after expiration, if declarations of presence are submitted on time, to the credit of the individual accounts of the insured persons in which they appear as the first beneficiaries, on the last working day of each week, on cnodition that it has been completed each time the subsidy month.

At this point, the following are highlighted:

• the beneficiary of the aid based on the condition under 1 b) (income criterion) or due to the simultaneous interruption of two or more professions for which he/she belongs to two or more of the former Sectors of the ETAA (t. Sector TSMEDE, TSAU, Legal Insurance) is entitled to a aid and with a responsible declaration chooses the former Department from which he will receive it
• especially the insured person of the former EBRD who is entitled to the aid based on the condition under 1 b) (income criterion), while at the same time covered by the insurance of the former OAEE or the former ETAP - SME as a self-employed person and interrupts the professional activity for the which is covered by the insurance of the above former insurance bodies, is entitled to receive an aid, compulsorily from the Insured Branch of the former ETAAA
• the insured who is simultaneously covered by the insurance of the former ETAA and the former OAEE or the former ETAP - SME and at the same time interrupts the parallel professional activity for which he is covered by the insurance of the above former insurance bodies, is entitled to receive an aid and with declaration chooses the Branch of the Special Account from which it will be received
• therefore, taking into account the aforementioned in the above cases for the calculation of the critical years of insurance, it is emphasized that only the insurance periods carried out by the party concerned in the former ETAA sector are taken into account (TSMEDE, TSAY, Attorneys' Insurance Fund) from the Special Account from which he is entitled to receive the subsidy.

To receive the subsidy more than once, the required legal conditions are examined each time. The insurance period calculated for the payment of the subsidy is not taken into account for its re-issuance.

The beneficiaries of the subsidy are obliged to inform the competent Service of the Manpower Employment Organization for any change that occurs in their condition during payment of the subsidy

The payment of the subsidy is suspended for the following reasons:

• commencement of salaried work or starting self-employment at home or abroad, unless the aid is granted on the basis of the condition 1 b)
• inclusion in the compulsory or optional insurance of the e-EFKA or another main national or foreign insurance body
• expiration of the residence or work permit, in a time prior to the subsidy, when it comes to third-country nationals
• temporary incapacity for work due to illness
• receiving a temporary disability pension
• administrative detention or imprisonment
• military service
• internship
• going abroad for more than twenty (20) sporadic or consecutive days during a year or for more than twenty (20) consecutive days during two consecutive years
• training (subject to conditions), if they have chosen to be registered in the Greek Public Employment Service registers as unemployed.

After the suspension reason is lifted, the subsidy continues when the beneficiaries submit a relevant application to the competent Service before the expiration of two years from the issuance of the initial subsidy decision. The subsidy is paid from the date of submission of the application.

The subsidy is interrupted due to:

• non-reporting of presence in two consecutive time periods determined
• the retirement subsidy decision by the e-EFKA or by any main national or foreign insurance body or if submitted application for retirement to the above bodies (except for the cases of retirement or submitting an application for retirement due to death)  
• parallel employment and subsidy
• death
• permanent incapacity for work

In case of interruption it is not possible to continue it. A new subsidy is possible if the subsidy conditions are met again after the interruption. subsidies that may have been paid after the interruption date are qualified as unduly paid.

For the above-mentioned persons insured, the issuance of an unemployment card is not a condition for submitting the application to receive the subsidy in question and therefore they are not subject to the obligations arising from it (e.g. interruption of the subsidy due to non-renewal of the unemployment card). However, it is only optional to issue an unemployment card, as long as the relevant conditions are met. It goes without saying that those who apply for this subsidy based on the condition under 1 b) (income criterion) cannot be holders of an unemployment card, as long as they have not interrupted their profession.

• Art. 44 par. 2 Law 3986/11 (Official Gazette 152/A'/01.07.2011)
• art. 50 Law 4144/13 (Official Gazette 88/A'/18.04.2013)
• art. 50 par. 1 - 3 Law 4488/17 (Official Gazette 137/A'/13.09.2017)
• Official Gazette 10043/43602/D18.2952 (Official Gazette 3496/B'/21.08.18)
• Official Gazette 10043/24986/ 952 (Official Gazette 2943/B'/17.07.20)