Strong interest in telecom parastatal's new voluntary exit plan
The voluntary scheme offered by Cyta is characterized as the best that the organization has offered since the financial crisis of 2013.
By Apostolos Tomaras
In an effort to further reduce operating expenses as well as to renew its staff, Cyta has implemented another voluntary exit plan for its employees who meet certain conditions. The plan has been implemented since May 1 and is the fifth offered by the semi-state since the financial crisis of 2013. Based on the provisions of the voluntary plan, the total number of employees in the organization will be reduced from 1,600 to 1,200, one hundred more than the provisions of the relevant study that was prepared. The voluntary plan foresees 219 departures, however the interest that existed after its announcement was high. Of the 407 applications that were submitted, 380 were finally approved, with some interested parties having left as early as June 1. The voluntary scheme should be completed with the 380 departures 12 months after the start of departures (30 April 2024). Submission of applications started from February 15, 2023 and ended on April 8, 2023.
The Plan
Based on the provisions of the plan, the departure of the employees who applied and were approved will be done on a monthly basis, taking into account the operational needs of the organization. However, those interested in their applications state a preferred date of voluntary retirement. As stated in the internal circular to the organization's staff, “the final date of each employee's departure will be determined in consultation with the services concerned, taking into account:
– Staffing and functionality issues of the departments.
– Necessity exhaustion of the staff's annual leave before leaving.
-The decision of the Ministry of Finance for a maximum replacement of 25% of the staff who will leave with the SEA 2023.
The organization reserves the right to change the departure date up to 12 months. Also the organization reserves the right to reject applications taking into account the needs of Cyta as well as the available amount based on the budget. As the plan clearly states, requests for voluntary departure from employees who were “promoted to vacant organizational positions during the 12-month period preceding the requested departure” will not be approved.
The Parameters
The right to apply for the volunteer plan was for Cyta monthly employees who, on the date of the announcement of the plan (15/02/2023), had completed at least 20 years of actual service in the organization. They also have more than 12 months of service remaining before their normal retirement date. The fifth voluntary plan is considered the best that Cyta has offered according to Ilias Dimitriou of EPOET – SEC.
The compensation
In the financial part of the voluntary plan, the maximum compensation that will be paid will amount to 180 thousand euros and will depend on the remaining months of work of each employee. The plan shows two examples with monthly salary plus indexation plus 13th salary, 3,630.91 euros. With remaining service until reaching the age of 65, 80 months, the compensation amounts to 97,221.25 euros (3,630.91x 80 remaining months x 33.47% = 97,221.25 euros). In addition to the compensation, a grade subsidy ranging from 5% to 40% will be awarded. Therefore, for the same amount of salary, in the remaining months of service the compensation from 97,221.25 euros will rise to 136,115.56 euros (3,360.91×80 remaining months x 46.86%=136,115.56). As clearly defined, the total compensation cannot exceed 75% of the remaining benefits that the claimant would have received up to the date of normal retirement. Residual benefits refer to the remaining after-tax wages, plus the difference in the lump sum and less the additional pension, after tax, for the period he will receive until the date of normal retirement.
Tax Free
As provided for in previous voluntary retirement plans, the amount received by each employee, whose participation in the plan was approved, will be tax-free. Also in the plan there is provision for renounced applicants, who during the period of the frozen period 2012-2016 have suffered a loss of wages (ie they have renounced before 2011 and until 2013 had not exhausted the personal scale of their renouncement), will be granted additional subsidy of €15,000, in addition to the above compensation. The amount of the subsidy will not be subject to the limit of 75% of the remaining wages and the corresponding amount will be given so that the total compensation does not exceed 100% of the remaining earnings and the maximum amount of €180,000
The public character is ensured”
The new voluntary plan in no way affects the employment status of those hired afterwards, assures Ilias Dimitriou of EPOET SEC. Hosting “Diasporas News” on SPOR FM, Mr. Dimitriou assured that the public nature of those working in the organization is guaranteed. Based on an agreement between trade unions and management, public law employment status will continue to cover 60% of Cyta's employees and the remaining 40% with private law status that mainly concerns employees of the organization's retail stores and technical customer service workers. Commenting on the new plan, Mr. Dimitriou mentioned that the staff reduction should have been done years ago based on an existing study. As for the employees who showed interest, they have more than 25 years of service in the organization.
