The whole plan to speed up the award of pensions

By Dimitris Katsaganis

According to the basic scenario, those lawyers and accountants who failed to pass, last week, the exams conducted by EFKA in order to certify their knowledge in relation to the issuance of new main pensions will have a second chance.

This is reported by the executives of the funds in Capital.gr, clarifying that the failed lawyers and accountants will be able to take the exams again, probably in 6 months, that is, in April 2022.

Yesterday, the Economic Chamber of Greece and the Plenary Session of the Presidents of the Bar Associations, in their letter, asked those who failed in the first round of certification of lawyers and accountants – tax experts, to have the opportunity to be examined on December 15.

As for those lawyers and accountants who did not attend last Wednesday’s exams, they will be examined on December 15, according to an announcement by EFKA.

In practice, this means that those who failed in last week’s exams will be given a second chance, after the completion of the next scheduled training-certification cycles.

More specifically, according to the announcements of EFKA.

– The 2nd training course for 1,200 additional accountants and lawyers will start on November 12,

– On December 15, the examinations of both those of the 2nd cycle and those of the 1st cycle who did not manage to participate in yesterday’s examinations will take place,

– In addition, the activation of the platform for the submission of new applications by lawyers and accountants is imminent.

It is reminded that, according to an announcement by EFKA last Tuesday, the first cycle of training and certification of accountants-tax experts and lawyers was completed and within the next few days the successful candidates will join the process of issuing pensions.

Both the training and the exams were of increased difficulty, as evidenced by the final number of successful candidates, the same announcement said.

This was done to ensure as much as possible that the certified will be able to meet their requirements as the award of pensions is a complex process that requires high skills and knowledge, according to EFKA and thus shields the award system and is strengthened by involvement of the best accountants and lawyers.

In detail, from the 1,200 initially enrolled in the first cycle of training-certification:

-1,147 (96%) participated normally in the training while the remaining 53 did not participate at all.

-790 had stated that they would participate in today’s examination and 357 requested an exemption from the examination procedure due to obligations, while they will have the opportunity to be examined in the next period.

– Last Wednesday, 547 people participated in the exams, of which 179 are successful.

It is also emphasized that half of the successful ones scored very high scores above 8/10, as a result of their good preparation.

On Thursday, November 4, a certificate from the Commander of e-EFKA for the successful candidates and within the next few days they will join the process of awarding pensions.

A newer announcement will describe the selection process of the certified by the insured.

In the first phase, they will have the opportunity to undertake pension cases of the IKA, the OGA and the OAEE. The categories of these pensions cover about 75% of all new retirement claims.

In the next few days, the start of the 2nd training-certification cycle for another 1,200 accountants and lawyers will be announced, according to the same announcement.

The inclusion of individuals in the staff employed in issuing pensions is not the only measure of EFKA to accelerate the relevant process.

According to information from Capital.gr, within the current month, the disabled will join the digital application system – awarding pensions.

Immediately after, that is, in December, three large categories of retirees will join the “Atlas” system.

First, pensioners from the private sector, ie the former IKA, will join.

Secondly, the parallel insured will join. The reason for those who, during their working life, were also insured, for example, in the former IKA and the former OAEE.

Thirdly, next December, the successively insured, ie those who were insured in one fund (eg IKA) and then in another (eg OAEE), will join the digital application-pension system.

From January 2022 onwards, the integration of retired self-employed professionals (of the former OAEE etc) in the “Atlas” system is planned.