1. Definition of posted worker
2. Working Time
The Organisation of Working Time Law came into force on 1 January 2003. The Law sets minimum health and safety requirements in relation to the organisation of employees’ working time and applies to all enterprises, establishments and works of the private and public sector, except in relation to:
• | the members of the Armed Forces |
• | the members of the Police Force and |
• | the seafarers covered by the Merchant Shipping (Organisation of Working Time of Seafarers) Law of 2003 (Law No. 79(I)/2003). |
Working Hours
Subject to any other Laws or Regulations providing for more favourable arrangements for workers, working time in any week may not exceed 48 hours on average, including overtime.
Working time can be specified by the applicable collective agreement or any other agreement between the employer and the employee, except for the following categories of professions, which are regulated by specialized legislation:
i. | for shop employees, normal weekly working hours are fixed at 38 hours (maximum 46 hours including overtime), |
ii. | for office clerks and messengers, the working time in a week may not exceed 44 hours or 8 hours per day, |
iii. | for employees in mines and quarries, the weekly working hours are fixed at a maximum of 40 hours (including overtime) for work performed underground and 44 (including overtime) for work performed on the surface. |
The reference period for calculating the average weekly working time is set over a period of four months. Periods of paid annual leave and sick leave are not taken into consideration in estimating the average weekly working time. In case an employer requests from an employee to work longer than 48 hours on average (over the 4-month reference period), this is only possible following the employee’s consent. The employee is not subjected to any adverse consequences by his/her employer if he/she does not accept to perform such work.
In case, following the employee’s consent, the maximum weekly working time (48 hours) is exceeded, the employer should:
i. | keep up to date records with the names of employees engaged in such work |
ii. | make these records available to the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance with all details of the employees and their consent (if requested) to engage in work exceeding 48 hours weekly. |
The Minister may restrict or prohibit the possibility of exceeding the maximum weekly working hours for reasons of health and/or safety of the employees involved.
Rest Periods
An employee is entitled to at least 11 uninterrupted hours of rest each day. Also, an employee is entitled to a minimum period of 24 uninterrupted hours of rest weekly. However, provided the employer so decides, an employee may have in a period of 14 days: either 2 separate rest periods of 24 uninterrupted hours each or an uninterrupted rest period of 48 hours.
Duration of Night Work
Night time means the period commencing at 11 o’clock at night and ending at 6 o’clock in the morning of the following day. In order to be regarded as a “night worker”, a worker:
i. | during night time, must work at least three hours of his/her daily working time as a normal course, or |
ii. | is likely to work, during night time, for at least 726 hours of his/her annual working time, provided that no smaller number of hours is provided by collective agreements. |
The employee’s total daily working time shall be taken into account for the calculation of the above hours, provided that it includes at least three hours during the period between 11 o’clock at night and 6 o’clock in the morning of the following day, regardless of the time his shift begins or ends, and the worker performs his/her work in at least 7 consecutive working hours.
The working time of a night worker shall not exceed on average eight hours for each 24-hour period. The average should be calculated within a period of one month, or in such other period as may be provided for in any collective agreement. The minimum weekly rest period of 24 hours provided for by this Law shall not be taken into consideration in calculating the average.
A night worker, whose night work entails specific risks or significant physical or mental stress, shall not work at night for more than eight hours in any twenty-four-hour period.
Work entailing specific risks or significant mental stress, where not determined by legislation or collective agreement, shall be agreed by consultation between the employer and representatives of workers or their representatives on health and safety matters, in accordance with the written assessment of risks which shall include any risks related to night work that the employer is required to provide in accordance with the Law and the Regulations made thereunder.
Health and Safety during Night Work
- • An employer who employs night workers on a regular basis shall inform the Ministry of Welfare, Labour and Social Insurance of the fact in writing.
- • An employer shall take all necessary measures to ensure that shift workers and night workers enjoy such protection in relation to their health and safety, as is appropriate to the nature of their work.
- • An employer ensures that before any worker commences night work, and at regular intervals thereafter, the worker undergoes, free of charge, the necessary medical examinations in order to ascertain whether they are suitably fit for the specific work they will be performing.
Minimum Paid Annual Holidays
All employees are entitled to at least 4 weeks annual leave yearly. More specifically, those working five days a week are entitled to a minimum of 20 working days annual leave and those working six days a week are entitled to a minimum of 24 working days annual leave.
The annual leave may be substituted by monetary compensation only in the case of termination of employment. When an employer gives notice of termination to an employee, annual leave cannot overlap with the period of notice. If the annual leave is granted and will not be paid upon termination, the period of notice should begin after the end of the annual leave.
Absence from work on sick-leave/ parental leave and leave on grounds of Force Majeure or maternity leave are considered as working periods for the calculation of an employee’s annual leave.
The accumulation and transfer of annual leave is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee through a collective agreement or a contract or the business practice. In case an employee can accumulate annual leave, then he/she can claim accumulated leave for up to 2 years.
Public Holidays
Public holidays are regulated by agreements between employers and employees or by collective agreements, except for
employees in
shops,
catering services/establishments and
hotels for which paid holidays are set in the relevant laws.
Sick Leave
The duration of sick leave and whether or not it is remunerated is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee either through collective agreement or personal contract or based on practice of the company. In the absence of any agreement, the employer is not obliged to supplement the sickness benefit and / or the first 3 days for which no sickness benefit is paid by the Social Insurance Services.
This does not apply for employees in
hotels and
catering services where they are legally entitled to sick leave with full pay from their employers, depending on their period of employment.
For details regarding the sickness benefit you may contact the
Social Insurance Services.
Derogations
Subject to the general principles of the protection of the safety and health of workers, certain derogations from the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Law may be possible in relation to:
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- • daily and weekly rest periods
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- • maximum weekly work time and
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- • duration of night work.
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Such derogations apply to workers whose working time is not measured or predetermined or may be decided by the workers themselves, in particular in relation to:
- • management executives or other persons with autonomous decision-making powers
- • family workers
- • workers officiating at religious ceremonies in places of worship and religious communities
- • medical practitioners under training (in this case special provisions apply).
According to the Law, derogations from certain articles of the Law may be adopted by means of collective agreements or agreements between the employers and the employees’ representatives provided that equivalent periods of compensatory rest are afforded to the workers concerned or that in exceptional cases where this is objectively assessed not made possible, appropriate protection is afforded to workers in activities and cases set out by the Law.
Penalties
Breach of the Organisation of Working Time Law by the employer constitutes a criminal offence and is subject to a sentence of up to one year imprisonment or a fine up €3.417 or both.
3. Remuneration
In Cyprus there are
no universally applicable collective agreements regulating rates of pay in separate economical activities.
Minimum Wage
a. Minimum Wage Order
Τhe national minimum wage is determined by the Minimum Wage Orders of 2022 and 2023. According to the Orders:
a) Every employee who works full-time must receive an initial monthly wage of at least €1.000 gross. Employees who either before January 1, 2024 or after January 1, 2024 have not completed six (6) months of continuous employment with the same employer, from January 1, 2024 must receive a monthly salary of at least €900 gross for full-time work, until completion six (6) months of continuous employment.
b) The working hours of the employees must be those that were applied at the time that the Order came into force, as determined either by collective agreement, or by a written agreement between the employer and the employee.
c) The provisions of this Order do not apply to domestic workers, the workers in agricultural and animal farming workers and seamen, as well as to workers to whom the Minimum Wages in the Hotel Industry Order of 2023 applies.
d) Α readjustment mechanism is instituted and it will be operating every two years, beginning from 2024.
b. Minimum Wage for Hotel Employees
The duties of each occupational category within a hotel are defined by the title of the worker's occupation as well as the traditional and standard practice of the duties in the hotel industry.
The minimum wages mentioned below include the sliding scale and the service entitlement in addition to the basic wage. However, they do not include any other benefit to the worker or benefit in cash for work on a compulsory rest day (6th day).
The minimum monthly wages in the hotel industry relate to 38 hours per week on a 5 day basis, and they are the following:
Frequency of Payments
According to the Protection of the Wages Laws of 2007 and 2012, wages must be paid at least weekly or monthly, depending on the agreement between the employer and employee. Any delay of the agreed and expected time of payment is considered a violation of the Law.
In such cases, the employee can submit a written complaint to the Department of Labour Relations. The Department investigates the complaint and tries to solve the dispute. If the dispute is not settled, the Department of Labour Relations has the jurisdiction to proceed with criminal proceedings against the employer.
Note that the Law does not oblige the employer to pay the monthly salaries every first of each month.
Overtime Work Payment
Overtime work must be compensated at a rate of
at least 1:1, and it must be stated in writing in the contract of employment. In case of a different agreement, through a collective agreement or personal contract, for overtime work, then this is compensated as agreed.
If overtime is included in the total amount of the agreed salary, the extra hours must be defined.
For
shop,
hotel and
catering services/establishments employees, overtime is determined by relevant applicable legislation.
Commission
In case there is an agreement, either collective or individual, between the employer and the employee, for a standard monthly commission, then this is considered as part of the salary and it is mandatory to be paid.
Note that, since the commission is part of the salary this agreement, cannot be changed by the employer without the employee’s consent.
It is stressed that any commission
should be set in writing in the terms of employment.
Salary Raise
Salary raises are not regulated by any legislation. If there is a collective agreement or any other in written agreement, which binds the employer to make certain increases, then he/she must provide them. Otherwise, it is at the discretion of the employer if, when and the amount of the raise he/she will provide.
Deduction of Wages
Deductions from wages are permitted only under certain conditions and always to the extent deemed necessary for the support of the employee and his family.
Deductions that can be made from wages are the following:
- • deductions prescribed by laws and regulations (social insurance, inland revenue, etc.);
- • deductions in accordance with regulations for retirement, provident and medical funds;
- • deductions prescribed by Court rulings;
- • deductions for the reimbursement of damage or loss to the employer are only authorized if they were caused intentionally or due to severe negligence on behalf of the employee
- • deductions provided for by a collective agreement or general agreement between employers' organizations and employees representatives, for employees to whom they apply.
- • other deductions following the employee’s written and signed consent.
According to the Protection of Wages Law, any deductions made from the salary, due to damages suffered by the company, either intentionally or because of serious negligence, must take place after consultation with the employee representatives or the employee himself/herself, to determine the amount of compensation and how it shall be paid.
In general, salary deductions should be limited to the extent that the employee can support himself/herself and his/her family.
Penalties
Breach of the Protection of Wages Law by the employer constitutes a criminal offence and is subject to a sentence of up to 6 months imprisonment or a fine up €15.000 or both. The Court, in addition to the penalties provided above, may also issue an Order for the payment of the amount owed to the employee.
4. Termination of employment
5. Process for the submission of complaints for citizens of Cyprus and of Member States
6. Procedure for the submission of a complaint for employees from non-EU nationals
