Employee Rights & Obligations in Cyprus Employment Law

Employee Rights & Obligations in Cyprus Employment Law

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Generally speaking, the labour laws in the Republic of Cyprus are extremely transparent and informative. This means that current legislation clearly states duties of companies and employers overall to give rights to employees in the event of a dispute or wrongdoing on behalf of either party contract to an employment agreement.

These rights extend to notifying the employee of all the working requirements and conditions of cooperation within one month from the commencement of official employment. All information should be contained within the employment contract.

An indefinite employment contract is the most common form of employment contract in Cyprus, and by law needs to contain the following information:

• Names & addresses of both parties: employer & employee.
• Actual & legal addresses of the company.
• Position of the employee according to the job description.
• The date from which the employee takes up official duties.
• Working schedule and salary.
• Annual leave terms.
• Termination of contract terms.

Being in a long-term fixed contact in Cyprus company means that each employee is entitled to paid annual, which is 20 days as a minimum and 23 as a recommended average, with a typical schedule being 5 days working with 2 days off. This equals 24 working days in an average month with a standard 5 day work week. There has been an increase in flexible working hour contracts such as flexi-time schedules however this is down to each individual employer’s discretion.

Similar terms are approved for a provision of services contract, which must be included in the terms of the employment contract, as well as the date of effective termination.

In the event of the conclusion of any collective agreements, all the provisions of such a contract are prescribed in a similar manner.

Termination Procedure as per Cyprus Employment Law

In the event of termination of employment at the employer’s initiative, the employee must be notified of the termination no later than one week before the termination of the contract. The notice period depends on the amount of time that the employee has worked for the Cyprus company; the above-mentioned period implies that the company does not work more than 52 working weeks in a financial year.

The two-week notice period is typical for work for 104 working weeks; the maximum period for notifying the employee of the planned dismissal is 8 weeks (in the event that the employee has held his position from 312 working weeks).

If the initiative to terminate the employment contract comes from the employee, the obligation then falls on them to notify the employer in writing no later than one week (at 52 weeks of employment), two weeks (at 260 working weeks) and three weeks (more than 260 weeks of service) from the requested date of termination.

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