Handout of €534 is due on Monday

Over half a million workers will have to wait until Monday for the special compensation of 534 euros for having their labor contracts suspended for the month of May due to the government measures to contain the coronavirus, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis told Skai Radio yesterday.

According to the original planning, the payment of the allowance to suspended workers was supposed to start last Wednesday and be completed yesterday. However, Vroutsis explained that in order for the cross-checking of the recipients with the declarations of their employers to be fully implemented, the payment will now be made on June 15.

The handout concerns workers at companies that remained closed throughout May or which reopened at some point last month.

The latest data show that the funds to be credited to 526,051 salary workers in the private sector will add up to €208.14 million. However, only 215,716 workers stand to receive the full sum of €534 – them being the only ones suspended for the entire month of May. The rest will receive a fraction proportionate to the days of their suspension last month.