Hire in Cyprus

In general, health checks are permitted if they are required to determine if the candidate is physically capable to perform the specific duties as listed for the job role.

Credit history checks, even if the employee consents, is only permitted if the role involves financial control or frequent handling of funds.

The normal working week in Cyprus is 40 hours. A working week cannot exceed 48 hours, including overtime (the maximum overtime per week is eight hours). The employee is entitled to a break of at least 15 minutes if the daily period of work is more than six continuous hours.

There should be a minimum of 11 hours of continuous rest per day and 24 hours of continuous rest per week, and either two rest periods each of 24 continuous hours or one rest period of 48 continuous hours every 14 days.

Overtime pay is not regulated by law and it is left up to negotiations between the employer and employee.

However, in some industries, this is covered in a collective agreement.

Payroll and payment records of employees must be maintained (including employee details, offer letter, employment contract, working hours and attendance records, paid leave days, remuneration, overtime earnings, expense reimbursements, proof of payment, documents showing contributions and deductions).

The Cyprus Tax Authority has six years to raise any inquiry (or 12 years in the event of fraud or wilful deceit). It is recommended to keep payroll and tax related documents for this time period.

Bonus payments are at the discretion of the employer and may be paid out based on individual or company performance. However, this is not mandated by the law.

Nevertheless, the 13th and/or 14th salary must be paid in case of:

1) collective agreement in force,

2) a personal contract or an employment agreement made upon employment,

3) existing company practice.

Once the 13th and/or 14th salary is paid, even if it is not in a written agreement, it is considered to be the company’s practice and consequently paid every year.

Termination without notice is allowed for the below reasons:

• a criminal offense committed by the employee
• improper behavior by the employee

• violation of work rules or regulations in relation to the employment

Severance compensation is not payable if the termination is for the below reasons:

• inability to perform the job role as described due to skills required or temporary incapacitation
• Redundancy due to change in economic conditions
• Expiration of fixed term contract (either by date or by completion of task/project)
• Force majeure, act of war, civil commotion or an act of God.

The below categories of employees are protected from termination:

• Pregnant women and new mothers (for up to five months following the end of maternity leave)
• Employees participating in trade union related activities
• Employees on sick leave

If the employer intends to terminate an employee, notice must be given to the employee in writing. The notice period depends on the period of continuous employment.

26-51 weeks: 1 week

52 – 103 weeks: 2 weeks

104- 155 weeks: 4 weeks

156 – 207 weeks: 5 weeks

208 – 259 weeks: 6 weeks

260-311 weeks: 7 weeks

>312 weeks: 8 weeks

The payment of wages in lieu of notice is permissible.

During the notice period, the employee is entitled to paid time off during normal working hours to seek new employment. The paid time off cannot exceed eight hours per week or 40 hours in total.

If an employee intends to terminate his or her employment, he or she must also give the employer notice depending on the period of continuous employment:

26-51 weeks: 1 week

52-259 weeks: 2 weeks

>260 weeks: 3 weeks

Any restrictive covenant must be reasonable in its geographical coverage and time scope. It cannot restrain the employee from being engaged in a lawful profession.

For a restrictive covenant to be enforceable:

• The work has to be of a sensitive nature (e.g. R&D).
• the employer must offer monetary compensation during the period of non-compete or when there is a restrictive covenant in place.

To protect its confidential interests and information, an employer should have non-disclosure contracts. It is assumed that the employee’s duty to act in good faith will continue beyond the termination.

An employee who has worked 48 weeks in a year is entitled to paid annual leave with pay of four weeks. The entitlement is as follows:

• For employees on a 5 day work week – 20 working days
• For employees on a 6 day work week – 24 working days

For employees who have worked less than 48 weeks, the annual leave is prorated accordingly.

A temporary absence from work counts towards the 48 weeks of work. These include sickness, maternity and paternity leave.

Annual leave can be carried forward for up to two years, given the mutual agreement of both employer and employee. An employer has to pay employees’ unutilized annual leave upon termination.

An employee’s wages during the annual leave is either paid for by the employer directly or out of the Central Holiday Fund (to which employers are required to contribute).

If an employer provides more annual leave than what is required statutorily, the employer can apply for exemption to pay contributions towards the Central Holiday Fund. However, wages must still be paid to the employee for the period of leave.

An employee has to have worked for at least 13 weeks in the previous year to be entitled to payments from the Central Holiday Fund. For an employee to receive payment, the annual leave has to be taken for at least nine consecutive days. If the employee worked less than 48 weeks in the previous year, the annual leave taken has to be for at least four consecutive days.

Sick leave benefits are paid out by Social Insurance from day four of the sick leave (no payment of benefit will be made in the first three days). The employee must file a claim with the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurances. The employer is not legally required to pay for the first three days of sick leave.

The maximum number of days for which an employee’s sick leave is payable is 156 days during a single period of interrupted employment.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave is 18 consecutive weeks, 11 of which are mandatory (two weeks before expected delivery date, week of delivery and eight weeks after the week of delivery). The pregnant employee must give advance notice to the employer, providing a medical certificate of her pregnancy specifying the expected week of delivery.

Maternity leave is extended for multiple births, at four additional weeks per child.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is two weeks and is given to employees whose wife gave birth, had a child through a surrogate mother or who adopted a child below 12 years old. The two week leave must be taken consecutively and anytime up to 16 weeks from the date of the birth or the adoption. The employee must provide a written notice to the employer at least two weeks in advance prior to taking the paternity leave.

Surrogate Leave

Female employees expecting a child through a surrogate are entitled to 18 weeks leave. A medical certificate with a relevant court order must be provided. The leave can commence two weeks prior to the expected week of delivery. This leave is extended by four weeks per additional child (e.g. 22 weeks for twins).

Adoption Leave

A female employee who has adopted a child below 12 years old is entitled to 12 weeks’ maternity leave. The employee must provide a written notice to the employer at least six weeks in advance prior to the effective date of adoption.

Parental Leave

An employed employee who is a parent is entitled to unpaid parental leave of up to 18 weeks. For multiple births, the unpaid leave entitlement is 18 weeks per child. For a single parent, the unpaid leave entitlement is 23 weeks. The employee must provide a written notice to the employer at least three weeks in advance, specifying the start and end dates of the parental leave.