The government’s €300 cap on the extension of the “personal allowance” to thousands of civil servants appointed or transferred to 16 public sector agencies on or after April 1, 2023, is sparking controversy.
As evidenced by the dozens of comments posted during the public consultation—specifically regarding Article 53 of the omnibus bill from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance (YPETHO)—while the regulation moves in a positive direction, putting an end “the long-standing practice of governments of holding hundreds of civil servants hostage in order to grant them the personal difference shortly before elections, aiming for petty partisan gains, the arbitrary cap of 300 euros in the calculation of the personal difference must be removed from the provision in question, as it deviates from previously enacted provisions, (Article 45 of Law 4569/2018 and Article 64 of Law 5042/2023), which provided for the extension of the personal differential without a cap to employees appointed or transferred as of January 1, 2011”.
In fact, the Association of Economic Policy Employees of the Ministry of Finance (S.Y.O.I.P.Y.O.) specifically states that: “With the cap in effect, the current regulation does not correct the wage injustice that the personal difference is intended to remedy.
New colleagues will continue to be paid less than their senior counterparts, thereby mitigating but not eliminating the two-tier system for civil servants.”
It further states that: “given that cumulative inflation from 2019 to May 2026 exceeds 27%, and given that for the same period, the cumulative increases in the gross earnings of entry-level university-educated civil servants amount to 12.8% (gross earnings of €1,092 in 2019 and €1,232 in April 2026), while the corresponding increases are even smaller in the higher pay grades… the personal difference must be made pensionable for both new and veteran colleagues.”
Extension with a cap
It is worth noting that Article 53 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs’ bill, the consultation on which concludes today, extends the personal allowance to staff appointed or transferred on or after April 1, 2023, but sets a cap of 300 euros.
More specifically, these employees are not entitled to and do not receive the “personal allowance” established by Law 4354/2015 for the unified pay scale of civil servants.
Under the regulation, a “personal allowance” of up to 300 euros per month is now provided to staff appointed or transferred on or after April 1, 2023, to the following services:
- the Ministry of National Economy and Finance and the public-law legal entities (PLLEs) under its supervision,
- the General Secretariat for Information Systems of the Ministry of Digital Governance,
- the Hellenic Capital Market Commission,
- the Hellenic Fiscal Council,
- the Hellenic Statistical Authority,
- the National Organization for Medicines (EOF),
- the Ministry of Development and Investment,
- the Court of Auditors (administrative staff), and
- the State Legal Council (administrative staff).
- the constitutionally established independent authorities,
- the National Telecommunications and Post Commission,
- the Single Public Procurement Authority,
- the Gaming Supervision and Control Commission,
- the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy, and Water,
- the Railway Regulatory Authority,
- the Ports Regulatory Authority,
The total number of employees affected by this provision is estimated to reach up to 10,000. The impact of this regulation will be an increase in the monthly gross earnings of the aforementioned employees by up to 300 euros per month.
However, for colleagues of these employees in the same departments who were appointed or transferred to them before April 1, 2023, the €300 cap on the “personal difference” does not apply , with the result that this provision also perpetuates significant wage inequalities and injustices.
Ten years of “personal difference”
It should be noted that Law 4354/2015 on the unified pay scale for civil servants, which entered into force on January 1, 2016, included a provision (paragraph 1 of Article 27) stipulating that: “In the event that the provisions of this law result in a base salary or regular monthly remuneration lower than that to which the employee was entitled on December 31, 2015, the difference shall be maintained as a personal allowance.
Family allowances and position-based allowances shall not be taken into account in calculating the personal difference... This new personal difference shall be reduced by any future increase in the employee’s remuneration, except for the granting of a position-based allowance...”.
The purpose of that provision was to ensure the level of total remuneration for those employees whose remuneration was reduced as of January 1, 2016, compared to what they received on December 31, 2015, due to the abolition or reduction of certain allowances they were receiving.
However, due to this specific provision, as of January 1, 2016, any increase a public employee received in their base salary due to seniority, that is, due to their transition to a higher pay grade after completing two or three years of service in the immediately preceding grade, was offset against the “personal difference” and was either lost entirely or reduced, with the result that the employee remained stagnant in terms of salary, despite their advancement in service.
In practice, they received no raise or one much smaller than what they were entitled to.
However, the first substantive step toward correcting the injustice regarding the personal difference was taken in 2025, with the enactment of a provision stipulating that the “personal difference” against increases due to salary increments, provided that the amount of this “difference” is up to 300 euros, and significantly reduced offsets if the amount exceeds 300 euros.