Who are the beneficiaries?
The productivity bonus extension is Santa’s gift to the civil servants for the new year.
After the successful pilot application in specific categories of employees, it is time to apply the incentive and reward system to the staff of more agencies and services with the aim of enhancing productivity in reform and general high-priority projects.
Beneficiaries of the new system are the civil servants who, due to their competence, implement specific objectives of the government program and who belong to bodies that fall under the target setting – evaluation (such as ministries, municipalities, regions, hospitals), as well as military personnel of the Armed Forces and uniformed personnel of the Security Forces.
The reward will be a result of achieving specific and measurable results. The reward targets of public bodies are determined at the beginning of the year after being processed by the Incentives and Rewards Committee, which is made up of service executives and the relevant general secretaries, based on the priorities of each ministry. The bonus will be given to the employees of the agencies that have achieved the goals and if they themselves have contributed to their achievement.
The degree of achievement of the objectives to be rewarded is calculated with specific performance indicators. These indicators, as well as the documentary material proving the progress of the achievement of the selected objectives, are recorded in the Reward Information System. This is an online database maintained by the Ministry of the Interior, through which the fair application of the bonus is ensured.
The amount that each institution will receive to be distributed to the employees who are entitled to it, is calculated using specific mathematical formulas listed in the relevant law 5149/24 of the Ministry of the Interior.
The selection of employees and the amount of the reward per beneficiary is carried out by their supervisors based on their contribution to the achievement of the specific goals.
40% of the final reward amount is distributed equally, while the remaining 60% is given in relation to the contribution of each beneficiary to the operation and work of the service.
The amount of the bonus will reach up to 15% of the annual basic salary every yearwill be subject to the insurance contributions and other deductions of the additional salaries and will be paid once.
The amount will be credited to the employees within the next three months from the date of issuance of the deed of verification of the minister (or the head of the organization) with the beneficiaries and the amounts, provided by the end of April of the following year from the year of implementation of the objectives.
The National Transparency Authority will carry out spot checks to see if the distribution of the bonus is fair.
Those who are on holiday or suspended from duty are not entitled to the rewardthose who have been finally convicted of specific offenses or have been finally imposed any disciplinary penalty. The payment of the reward is suspended by the initiation of criminal or disciplinary proceedings and in case of final acquittal, the amount is paid retroactively.
The annual budget for monetary rewards amounts to 40 million. euroagainst 20 million euros which was the total amount of the pilot application, which involved three categories of employees: those who contributed to the implementation of the ministries’ annual action plans, those involved in projects of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” and those who worked to achieve fiscal goals.
