Temping for state gets easier
The status of contract workers in Greece is likely to improve considerably with the new European Union directive on «hired» employees in the public sector. Instead of working directly for the state, contract workers will have job-finding companies as their employer, once Greece transposes the directive into national law, a process that must be completed by December 2011. The new directive effectively abolishes all clauses that hinder a permanent work relationship between temporary employees and their indirect employer, while abolishing the charges employees pay to temporary employment firms. Sector professionals consider the directive «a step in the right direction,» arguing that it significantly broadens the benefits for temporary workers. Thedoros Tollis, director of the Employment Solutions sector at ICAP Group, told Kathimerini that «the new directive comes in response to the somewhat negative atmosphere that surrounds temporary employment companies.»
