EFKA to get help this summer
Certified lawyers, tax experts and accountants are getting down to business this summer assisting the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) with the issue of new pensions, and the Labor Ministry expects the process to have accelerated considerably as of September.
Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has signed the ministerial decision that settles all the details regarding the process for the training and certification of private sector professionals. The joint ministerial decision on the price list for that process is also at the signing stage; this concerns the proposed payment EFKA will make to the professionals the retirees will pick for the processing of their applications. Sources say the decision does not rule out the possibility of the professionals and the retirees agreeing to a higher amount, with the citizens paying the difference.
The Hatzidakis decision sets out in detail the content and the schedule of training, the application submission and examination process, the registration of certified professionals, etc.
At the same time the ministry has sent the EFKA management its recommendation on the prices for the documents and the draft decisions on permanent or temporary pension issues: That would range from 30 to 80 euros, depending on the service offered.
EFKA will conduct the training of the certified professionals free of charge, though the supply of training could also be implemented by private entities too. The skills offered will cover a huge range of cases, the entire social security legislation such as the pension requirements, the time of insured labor and its documentation, the establishment of any obligations and the calculation of the pension due.
After the completion of training, which will be mostly conducted via recorded online tutorials, the professionals that volunteer will participate in exams that EFKA will organize, with the marks issued as soon as the examination is completed. The EFKA director will then sign the official result within five days and the successful professionals will enter the register of certified volunteers that will be held and monitored by EFKA.
According to Hatzidakis, the certified lawyers and economists will start the effort to clear the pension application backlog within the summer.
