The EFKA Unified Organisation for Social Insurance has issued an encyclical in order to push for enforcement of the smoking ban among civil servants.

While ministers such as Christos Spirtzis, Pavlos Polakis, and Euclid Tsakalotos, and MPs such as Tasia Christodoulopoulou, have been caught smoking in public places where it is banned, civil servants are being asked to enforce the law, or face stiff penalties.

The fines will range from 50 to 500 euros, depending on whether it is a case of recidivism.

The encyclical is based on a 2008 (3730/2008) smoking ban law that has obviously not been strictly implemented, and which applies to civil servants, employees of public law legal entities and of the broader public sector. The law says that violations are to be met with disciplinary action.

The fines are between 50 and 500 euros, depending on whether a repeat offender is involved.

The employee’s immediate supervisor is responsible for enforcement of the law. The disciplinary penalty for first violation is a reprimand, which is placed in the employee’s file, and a fine. A repeat offender must pay a fine that is double the initial fine.

If an employee refuses to comply after repeated violations of the law, there may be harsher fines, at the discretion of the competent disciplinary council, which must be convened immediately after the violation is registered

in.gr

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