Travel Agency Staff To Benefit From OAED Subsidy Program

The Manpower Employment Organization (OAED) assured the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (GEPOET) that travel agency and tour bus staff would be included as of 2011 in its subsidy program of insurance contributions.

The program was originally designed exclusively for hotel employees.

In July, OAED launched two subsidy programs to save working posts in hotels.

The first one included a grant of social security contributions for the rehiring of 70,000 hotel employees of seasonal and all-year-round hotels.

The second program aimed to maintain 10,000 job positions at all-year-round hotels through a grant that would cover an amount of the employees’ benefits.

GEPOET had underlined that travel agency employees also faced seasonal unemployment and therefore similar measures should be taken so travel agencies could maintain their staff.

In addition, OAED informed the federation that it was currently in consultations with the European Commission to plan an employment support draft bill through a 12-month grant that would cover 50 percent of social security contributions of companies.