Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) - Greece (Ratification: 1955)

Part VI (Employment injury benefit) of the Convention. Articles 32(c) and 36(2). Benefits for disability of less than 50 per cent. The Committee previously noted that, in the private sector, only insured persons with a disability of at least 50 per cent are entitled to a disability pension. In its report, the Government indicates that Article 36 of the Convention essentially refers to the functional assessment of persons with disability, evaluating their ability to continue practising their profession or a different one. In Greece, the determination of disability is centred on medical assessment, which also includes an evaluation of a person’s ability to work. According to the Government, disability below 50 per cent, in its majority, has little or no impact on persons’ functionality, allowing affected persons to continue working, either in their previous profession or a different one.

The Committee recalls that Articles 32(c) and 36 of the Convention do not prescribe a single method for determining disability. In particular, disability may be assessed based on loss of earning capacity, loss of faculty (impairment of physical fitness), or a combination of both criteria. The Committee further recalls that Articles 32(c) and 36(2) of the Convention require the provision of cash benefits in cases where a partial loss of earning capacity or a loss of faculty exceeds a prescribed degree. The prescribed degree, under which no benefits at all may be provided, should in no case be equal to or higher than a degree of disability defined as slight. The slight degree of disability, where periodic cash benefits may be converted into a lump sum under Article 36(3)(a) of the Convention, has been previously considered by the Committee as a degree of disability up to 30 per cent (see the Committee’s 2025 General Survey, Achieving comprehensive employment injury protection, para. 245).

The Committee, however, observes that, in Greece, no periodic cash benefit is provided in case of disability below 50 per cent due to employment injury. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that periodic cash benefits are provided to persons with disability below 50 per cent due to employment injury, to give full effect to Articles 32(c) and 36(2) of the Convention.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.