Greece: Legislation concerning disabled people and employment

Under the Greek Constitution of 1975 social rights of specific social groups are recognized for the first time in Greece. In that way the constitution obliges the legislator to enact special measures for the protection of these groups.

After the revision of the Greek Constitution in 2001 has been determined:

Article 21
- Families with many children, disabled during war and during peaceful period, victims of war, widowers and orphans of people who fell in the war, as well as those suffering from incurable physical or mental illness have the right of special care by the State.
- The State cares for the health of citizens and takes special measures for the protection of youth, old age, disability and for the care of the poor.
- Individuals with disabilities have the right to enjoy measures that ensure the autonomy, the professional integration and their attendance in social, economic and political life of the Country.

Law 3304/2005
The voting of Law 3304/2005 implements the principle of equal treatment irrespective of racial or national origin, religious or other beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation and constitutes a new field for the promotion of the principle of equality and the protection of a person's rights in our country.

Law 1320 (Official Journal of Greek Republic 6 /11.1.1988)
The article 23 determines that: Public Services, Legal Persons of Public Law, Organisations or services of Local Authority, Organisations of Common Utility, Banks and generally all public institutions are obliged to employ without contest with a ratio five (5): to one hundred (100) empty places (5%), disabled people and generally individuals with decreased abilities, that depend in the provisions of N.963/1979. Also, included are the victims of war and otherwise disabled people.
The law 2643/98 is the most important law for disabled people in the Greek republic up to now. It is mentioned: "Concern for the employment of persons of special categories and other provisions"

Article 1: "Protected persons"
Individuals protected (by the law and the State) are those with 50 % rate of disability who have limited abilities for employment due to any chronic physical, mental or psychological illness (persons with special needs), provided that they are registered with the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE as being disabled. People are also protected who have a child or brother or spouse with a 67 % rate of disability or more due to severe mental and physical problems.

Article 2: "Protection in private institutions or in the wider public sector"
1. Enterprises or businesses, Greek or foreigners, that function in Greece in any form and public sector institutions, as well as their affiliated companies, provided that they occupy personnel above fifty (50) individuals, are compelled to employ 8% of protected individuals of previous article out of the total personnel of their enterprise, exploitation or institution.

Article 12: "Administrative sanctions"
1.The employer who violates the provisions of this law is imposed to the following sanctions:
a) A fine equal to six (6) minimum months' wage of a private employee for refusal of employment of persons of paragraph of 1 article 1.
b) A fine equal to the wage per day of the person placed, for each day of delay of his employment, provided that the person was presented in the indebted employer.

Another very important law is 2683/1999 because practically abolishes the term "disability" by replacing it with "convenience for the job" Law 2683/1999 (OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC 19A/9-2-1999)
Article 7 : Health
1. Employees that have the health that allows them the implementation of duties of the corresponding placement are hired. The lack of physical dexterities does not prevent the employment, provided that the employee, with the suitable and justified technical support, can practice the duties of the corresponding placement. Special provisions on the employment of persons with special needs are not offended.

Circular on the subject: "Programme of accessibility of Individuals with Disabilities of year 2006" is establishing the obligation of public services, of Legal Persons of Public Right and of services belonging to LOCAL AUTHORITY to take all the necessary measures for the guarantee of accessibility and all other remaining facilitations for disabled people in their working placements .

Benefits for Employers
The Organism of Employment of Workforce offers three main actions with which it tries to promote the dependent work of persons with special needs and simultaneously promotes any enterprising initiative they want to develop through a special programme of support of new businessmen.

Programmes of new work placements for persons with special needs
These programmes support the creation of work placements for persons with special needs through the subsidy of enterprises that employ them and are separated in four categories:
- Subsidy of employer for three years due to the offer of placement of complete employment, with an employer's obligation to additionally occupy the individual ten months without this subsidy.
- Subsidy of a placement with a convention of certain time for nine months and on hours equal with the half of hours of daily obligatory employment for individuals with mental retardation. Also, for the first semester the employee is paid by the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE because this period is considered as period of preparation and adaptation.
- Subsidy of new freelancers for persons with special needs in the frame of this programme is provided subsidy of persons with special needs that intend to make their own enterprise. The duration is two years, that is to say the new enterprise can receive economic support in its first and second year of operation.
- Programme of ergonomic regulation of placement. Subsidy of employers and new freelancers for the adaptation of work placement, so that it facilitates the persons with special needs that work or are about to work in the enterprise.

Benefits for Employees
In Greece there are public schools mainly for people with moderate or severe learning difficulties that offer pre-vocational training.
There are public or private sector organisations that implement programmes subsided by the State or the European Commission where people with learning difficulties or with autism may learn different kind of jobs (vocational training). After that within the same organisations people with disabilities work with a symbolic wage and the products are sold. Some of them are called Productive Special Centres (Παραγωγικά Ειδικά Κέντρα Π.Ε.ΚΕ.).
In specialised centres of the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE vocational training is offered for disabled people and the programmes last two years. Apart from these the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE functions as a Job Center where disabled people that want to work are registered and can be candidates for the programmes that refer to disabled people.
Of course, as already mentioned, by the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE are offered programmes of: Subsidy of new free- lancers for persons with special needs and the Programme of ergonomic regulation of placement as well as Subsidy of a placement with a convention of certain time for nine months and Subsidy of employer for three years which encourage new placements for people with disabilities.
Social enterprises that are subsided by the ORGANISATION FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE WORK FORCE can include disabled people.
Until now guidance and counselling in Greece is organised only in a private basis or by organisations offering vocational training through European Commission's programmes.
Accompanying Support Services offered by different organisations to social groups are implemented in order to help the intensification of disabled people and others to improve qualifications and being more competitive for the job market.