Employment Laws in Cyprus

Contractual Agreements

The employment laws in Cyprus require you to draft in writing or electronically send an employment agreement within seven days of employing individuals. 

The agreement may include essential details like:  

• Identities of employer and employee
• Work location (or if no fixed location, details about mobility)
• Job title, nature, or description
• Start date
• End date for fixed-term contracts (or expected duration)
• Probation period details
• Salary details (including base pay, benefits, and pay frequency)
• Work schedule information like work hours, overtime arrangements, and potential shift changes.

You may sign a Data Processing Agreement to protect yourself from any legal liabilities arising from processing employee personal data during employment. 

Types of employment contracts in Cyprus

• Indefinite contract: The most common contract type negotiated for hiring a full-time employee. 

• Part-time contract: A part-time contract is typically indefinite and has fewer than the standard working hours. A legal framework exists to extend statutory benefits and access to collective employee representation.

• Fixed-term contract: This type of contract usually specifies a predetermined end date for employment and is best suited for temporary projects, seasonal work, or filling in for an absent employee.

Obligations and rights for both parties

• Cyprus labor law encourages you to be flexible and supportive of your employees' work arrangements whenever possible. 
• Part-time workers have the same rights as full-time workers, like pay, benefits, and working conditions. 
• You may set a six-month probationary period for new employees in Cyprus, extendable up to 26 months. 
• You must maintain a record of work exceeding the statutory limits. 
• Moreover, your employee can refuse to work longer than 48 hours a week without affecting their employment.

Working Hours and Overtime

The employment laws in Cyprus set out the following minimum standards for employees’ schedules, including

• Maximum weekly work hours,
• Night work regulations, 
• Rest breaks, 
• Daily and weekly rest periods and 
• Work pace.  

Regular working hours

• You may schedule regular weekly work in Cyprus at 40 hours.
• Any night work cannot exceed an average of eight hours, calculated over one month.
• In addition to a minimum of 15 minutes of rest breaks, rest periods may be: 
  • Daily rest: At least 11 consecutive hours
  • Weekly rest: A minimum of 24 consecutive hours.

• Moreover, the work pace criteria require you to design tasks to avoid repetitive and dull work while setting achievable work rates.

Overtime regulations and compensation

• Cyprus labor law calls for individual or collective agreements to regulate (with few exceptions) overtime work and compensation. 
• Yet you may not exceed total weekly work over 48 hours, calculated over every four months.

• The law prescribes the following compensation for overtime in retail establishments: 
  • 150% of the usual wage rate on weekdays 
  • 200% on Sundays, public holidays, and free mornings or free afternoons.

• Alternatively, you may offer paid time off instead of an overtime pay premium. 

Minimum Wage and Compensation

Apart from minimum wage, the labor laws of Cyprus do not regulate salaries for full-time or remote employees. You may negotiate it through individual or collective agreements.  

The minimum wage rate in 2024

• The employment laws in Cyprus prescribe a monthly minimum wage rate for full-time employees as 
  • First six months of employment: €885 gross
  • After six months: €940 gross

Factors affecting wage determination

• You must negotiate, calculate, and pay full-time employees in Euro (EUR, €). 
• You must ensure salary payouts by the 27th of every month.
• Generally, collective bargaining determines wages, especially for blue-collar jobs. 
• However, labor market dynamics, education, experience, and the specific job and sector also create a complex landscape for wage determination in Cyprus. 

Employee Benefits and Social Security

You must guarantee the following statutory benefits to your full-time employees under the employment laws in Cyprus:

Statutory benefits

• Fulfilling annual paid leave entitlements and pregnancy-related leave benefits through the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). 
• Extending sick leave payments after the minimum duration of 156 consecutive days, paid at 60% of salary through SIF. 
• Enrolling in mandatory public health insurance. 
• A timely contribution to ensuring the following social security benefits: 
  • Retirement pensions
  • Unemployment benefits
  • Sickness benefits
  • Invalidity pension
  • Maternity benefits
  • Family benefits

Additional perks and benefits

• You may allow employees to carry over their unused leave for two or more years. 
• You must negotiate a suitable End-of-Service Clause while drafting an employment agreement. 

• It is a common practice in Cyprus to extend the 13th-month salary in December as a token of appreciation. 

Social security contributions and requirements

• Every year, the government sets a maximum income level (insurable amount) for calculating social security contributions. 
• You may consider only the first €1,209 per week, €5,239 per month, or €62,868 per year to calculate the social security contributions in Cyrus 2024.
• You must register with the Social Insurance Fund and transfer the following deducted contributions on time.

Vacations and Paid Time Off

The employment laws in Cyprus call for every employer to extend the following paid and unpaid leave entitlements:  

Annual leave entitlement

• You must offer paid annual leave every year specific to the employee’s work schedule:
  • Five-day work week: 20 days
  • Six-day work week: 24 days 

• Moreover, public holidays and regular days off are not counted as part of employees' annual leave entitlement in Cyprus.

Public holidays and special leaves

• You must observe 16 public holidays in Cyprus every year: 
  • January: New Year's Day, Epiphany
  • March: Green Monday, Greek Independence Day, 
  • April: National Day, 
  • May: Labor Day, Orthodox Good Friday, and Easter Holidays
  • June: Orthodox Pentecost Monday
  • October: Assumption Day, Cyprus Independence Day, Ochi Day
  • December: Christmas Eve

• The employment laws in Cyprus apply further obligations on employers to extend special leave, including: 
  • Maternity leave: You must guarantee 18 weeks of continuous paid leave for expecting mothers. 
    Further, you must ensure that 11 weeks of mandatory leave is taken during the period starting two weeks before the expected week of birth. The remaining seven weeks of leave may be extended variably. 
  • Paternity leave: You must extend two consecutive weeks of paid leave within the first 16 weeks after the birth.
  • Parental leave: You may extend a maximum of six weeks per year to each parent for each child.
  • Adoption leave: You may grant eligible employees 16 continuous weeks of unpaid leave to care for the adopted child.
  • Bereavement leave: You may offer up to five days of paid leave in case of close relatives. 
  • Military leave: You must honor the compulsory leave period for national duty.

Termination and Severance

Here, we shall discuss the most common legal practices for terminating an employee in Cyprus. 

Grounds for termination

• Mutually agreed exit: The employment laws in Cyprus allow you to terminate the contract mutually in any situation to avoid legal complications.

• Termination during the probation period: You may unilaterally terminate the contract if you find your new employee to be a misfit for the job role, perform poorly, engage in misconduct, or frequently absent from work. 

Notice period and severance pay

You may vary the End of Service Clause (EOSC) under the contract employment law in Cyprus, yet comply with it in the following manner: 

• Notice period: depends upon the tenure of employment

• Severance pay: based on employees’ years of service

• However, you may not be required to follow the notice period and other provisions related to employment termination under Cyprus labor law during the default probation period of six months, extendable up to 24 months.  

Discrimination and Equal Opportunity

Various employment laws in Cyprus consider discrimination illegal in all aspects of hiring and promotion, training and benefits, pay and working conditions, and termination of employment.

Prohibitions against workplace discrimination

• The protected characteristics under the law are: 
  • Race or ethnic origin
  • Religion or belief
  • Sexual orientation
  • Age
  • Disability
  • Membership in a trade union or engaging in union activities
  • Part-time or fixed-term employment status
  • Gender (including pregnancy, maternity, and parental leave)

• You cannot discriminate between employees for whistleblowing activities. 
• The labor law in Cyprus also calls for gender equality in employment and occupation.  
• Further, you must guarantee equal treatment and protection for migrant workers and their families in Cyprus.

Health and Safety Regulations

The Department of Labor Inspection (DLI) enforces health and safety regulations in Cyprus. 

The Organisation of Working Time Laws of 2002 and 2007 set minimum safety and health standards for scheduling working hours. Other labor laws, like the Safety and Health at Work Law and the Factories La, can also help maintain safe workplaces. 

Additionally, the labor laws of Cyprus require you to go beyond statutory minimums and take additional steps to ensure worker safety, like providing training and equipment.

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FAQs

Q1. What is the working law in Cyprus?

A1. The working law in Cyprus extends minimum wage, non-discrimination protections, paid leave, and a standard 40-hour workweek. Additionally, Cyprus adheres to a few EU employment regulations, ensuring fair and consistent labor practices.

Q2. What are the rules for termination of employment in Cyprus?

A2. Employment termination in Cyprus is judged on a case-to-case basis. However, the labor laws of Cyprus have laid out basic protection, including grounds for termination, notice period, end-of-service benefits like severance pay, and everything else negotiated in the employment agreement. 

Q3. What are the maximum working hours in Cyprus?

A3. The working law in Cyprus regulates standard weekly work at 40 hours, overtime work not exceeding total weekly work of 48 hours, and suitable compensation. 

Q4. How much notice do I need to give my employer in Cyprus?

A4. The minimum notice period varies between one to eight weeks based on the length of employment.