Tourism: how much money workers get – from waiter to bartender

Against the backdrop of a huge number of vacancies in the tourism sector on the one hand and complaints from those already working about “unacceptable conditions”, on the other hand, a new regulation comes into force that provides for increased wages for tourism workers and protection of their rights in the workplace.

The new contract provides for the following:

• Increase of 10.5% over two years, 5.5% from 01/06/2023 and 5% from 01/06/2024
• Scheduled work and rest. That is, working time is maintained for five days, 40 hours and, with the consent of the employee, if he works on the 6th day, he will be paid (with mandatory insurances) an additional daily wage. And in case of exceeding 48 hours of work per week, a surcharge on hourly pay of 20% is applied, plus 75% if the “extra working day” coincides with a statutory holiday.
• Preservation of all allowances and benefits available so far.
• Increase in base salary. Thus, about 500 thousand workers in the food industry and public catering will receive wages from 815 to 1017 euros per month from June 1. The salary of employees will increase by 5.5% immediately from June 1, and a year later, from June 1, 2024, an additional 5% increase will be carried out.

The industry wage is set as follows:

• For chefs, the base salary is 1017 euros
• For a category A chef, the new salary will be 822 euros.
• For cook B’ and cook C’, the salary will increase to 815 euros.
• 815 euros will be the basic salary of cleaners, bakers and barmaids.
• Those who work through catering establishments (catering) will receive an increased daily wage of up to 71 euros.
• For bartenders, their new salary will be 822.90 euros.

Recall, as the Athens News wrote earlier, at the beginning of the season, tourism workers complained about “slave working conditions.” “Endless working hours, unacceptable living conditions and low wages”: these are the main complaints coming from seasonal workers in the tourism sector. Poor living conditions, endless working hours and unpaid overtime are what workers face every season.

Working conditions in tourist accommodations are often appalling and have “endless working hours”. In some cases, low daily wages and living in rooms where it is shameful to settle someone are added to this. As a result, according to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, an acute shortage of personnel is recorded, since no one wants to “hunch back for pennies 24 hours a day.” “Conditions are completely inhuman, often not paid for an additional few hours a day,” a young man complains to the MEGA channel.

The real picture faced by the country’s heavy industry workers includes:

• Unacceptable living conditions.
• Large amount of work.
• Irregular working hours.
• Low salary.
• Unpaid overtime.

“Five or six people sleep together in a small apartment and they don’t have much time to rest,” says a tourism worker. According to the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, in absolute terms, the staffing shortage for 2022 was 60,225 out of 262,981 jobs provided, in total, based on the hotel’s organizational chart.

Lack of staff by region:

• South Aegean – 14,346 vacancies.
• Crete – 10,808 vacancies.
• Central Macedonia – 5891 vacancies.
• Ionian Islands – 8378 vacancies.

In 2022, the following remained vacant:

• 7360 jobs for maids,
• 5164 jobs for waiters,
• 3460 for secretaries,
• 2866 for cleaners,
• 2729 for barista/bartender,
• 2340 chefs.

This year, according to experts, the situation is expected to worsen. The workers emphasize that “underhanded work and undeclared labor are becoming the norm on many islands during the tourist season.” At the same time, tourism workers often receive only a part of their salary, and the rest never gets into their pocket.

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