The first change concerns all employees who will be required to pay additional contributions of 1% to the Social Insurance Fund, whereas the same increase will apply for the employers, said the Social Insurance Services Director Theofanis Tryfonos. For the self-employed the increase will be 2%, while for public servants the additional contribution will be 0.5%.

Another important change provides that employees who have worked for only a few years, will not be entitled to a pension unless they have paid contributions for at least twelve years. The third change concerns a large group of employees, those who have worked for more than 33,5 years. According to Tryfonos, as of the 1st of January in case they choose to retire at the age of 63 years old their pension will be reduced by 6% for the rest of their lives. However, they could always avoid the reduction by choosing to retire at the age of 64, Tryfonos said.

Source: Financial Mirror