The Greek coalition government decided on Friday to proceed with 6,500 dismissals of public employees who have committed offenses or have been hired using falsified documents.
Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and PASOK leader and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Friday with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to discuss reforms in the public sector. Venizelos has expressed reservations about the lay offs and evaluation of public employees proposed by Mitsotakis.
During the meeting it was agreed that an amendment would be added to the omnibus bill that will be voted on Wednesday, noting that public employees will lose their jobs if they score poor marks in the evaluation. However, those scoring in the lowest 15% of results will receive extra training or will be transferred to other posts.
It was also agreed that the government will start investigating the contracts of public employees who were hired using forged documents as well as those who have committed offenses while serving in the public sector. Inspectors are checking the hiring procedures on 5,300 municipal employees. Another 500 will be fired after going through disciplinary process. There are also 1,800 employees whose contracts have expired and will not be renewed.
The Deputy Prime Minister has made it clear that he wants to keep any lay offs apart from these groups to a minimum. He pointed out that no employee in public transport should be fired expressing fears that this would cause a union backlash against the government.
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