Cyprus officially called the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is the third-largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean and is located south of Turkey, west of Syria, northwest of the Gaza Strip, Israel, and Lebanon, north of Egypt, and southeast of Greece. Cyprus has an open, free-market, service-based economy with some light manufacturing.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Cyprus.
Capital : Nicosia | Currency : Euro (EUR; €) | Languages spoken : Greek, Turkish |
Population : 1.22 million (2021 est.) | Minimum wage 2023 : €885 for first 6 months, then €940 | Cost of Living index : $$$ (37 of 139 countries) |
Payroll Frequency : Monthly | VAT - standard rate : 19% | GDP - real growth rate : 5.3% (2021 est.) |
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2023.
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Cyprus is 14 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
Generally, the weekly working time ranges from 38 to 40 hours in most companies. Employees are entitled to a minimum of 11 continuous hours of rest per 24 hours and 24 continuous hours of rest per week. When the working day is longer than six hours, the worker is entitled to a rest break of 15 consecutive minutes.
The maximum working week is 48 hours including overtime. Compensation for overtime work is not regulated by law in Cyprus but is a matter of individual or collective agreement.
There is a minimum probation period of six months prescribed by law during which an employer may dismiss an employee without cause. This period may be extended for up to two years, provided that there is a written agreement to that effect between the employer and the employee made at the establishment of the employment relationship.
| Length of Service | Notice Period |
| Up to 26 weeks | No notice |
| From 26 to 51 weeks | 1 week |
| From 52 to 103 weeks | 2 weeks |
| From 104 to 155 weeks | 4 weeks |
| From 156 to 207 weeks | 5 weeks |
| From 208 to 259 weeks | 6 weeks |
| From 260 to 311 weeks | 7 weeks |
| From 312 weeks and over | 8 weeks |
NOTE: The only time a notice is not required is when the employee has committed a serious offense. The notice period must be given in writing.
Workers on a five-day week must be given 20 working days’ leave and workers on a six‑day week must be given 24 working days’ leave over a period of one year’s employment. The contract of employment or the collective agreement may allow more days of annual leave (paid). Workers request leave and take it when the needs of the company permit.
Sickness leave is fixed between employers and employees through collective or individual agreements. A worker who does not receive sick pay from the employer is entitled to a sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Fund under certain conditions. The Social Insurance System provides for sick pay from the fourth day of leave.
All working parents with children up to the age of eight who have completed six months of continuous employment with the same employer are eligible for parental leave for a duration of 18 weeks for each child. In case of adoption, the leave can be taken after the end of the maternity/paternity leave, and for a period of eight years from the date of adoption, given that the child has not exceeded the age of 12. Also, in the case of a disabled child, the right to use parental leave is extended from the age of eight to the age of 18.
Maternity Leave
An employed pregnant woman is entitled to maternity leave for 18 consecutive weeks, of which the period of two weeks before the week of confinement, the week of confinement, and six weeks after the week of confinement, that is nine weeks in total, is compulsory for both the employer and the employed woman.
In order to be entitled to maternity leave, the pregnant woman must produce in time to her employer a medical certificate stating the expected week of her confinement. Maternity leave pay is funded by the Social Insurance Fund.
Paternity Leave
Any employee whose wife gave birth or had a child through a surrogate mother or adopted a child up to the age of 12 is entitled to paternity leave for two consecutive weeks starting from the week of birth or adoption and ending after a period of 16 weeks. Paternity leave since January 2023 is granted irrespective of family or marital status. Another important change introduced is that when the mother dies before or during childbirth or during maternity leave, the paternity leave increases by as many weeks as the remaining weeks of maternity leave to which the mother would have been entitled if she had not passed away.
Adoption Leave
A female employee who has adopted a child under 12 years of age and who has notified the Department of Social Welfare Services of this event is entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave, provided that she informed her employer, in writing, at least six weeks in advance, of her intention to adopt a child, and of the date on which she would begin taking care of the child.
Employees are entitled to up to five days of paid leave due to a death of a direct family member.
Carers’ Leave
Any employee who provides personal care or support either:
Is entitled to carers’ leave for five working days per year, without pay. For taking up the leave, the employee provides the employer with an appropriate medical certificate.
Leave on Grounds of Force Majeure
The employee is entitled to seven days of leave per year without pay on grounds of force majeure. These grounds must be related to urgent family reasons in case of sickness or accident to a dependent member of the employee’s family (child, spouse, sister, grandfather, grandmother), which makes the employee’s presence indispensable.
The leave may be granted either as a whole in one single period or piecemeal. Employees must inform as early as possible the employer of their intention to make use of leave on grounds of force majeure.
Employed persons are compulsorily insured under a state-administered Social Insurance Fund. The Scheme provides cash benefits for marriage, maternity, sickness, unemployment, widowhood, invalidity, orphanhood, old age, death, and employment injury.
| Benefit | Employer Contribution |
| Social Insurance Fund | 8.3% |
| Redundancy fund | 1.2% |
| Training Development Fund | 0.5% |
| Social cohesion fund | 2% |
| GHS contributions | 2.9% (capped at EUR 180,000 annual income) |
| Holiday fund (if not exempt) | 8% |
NOTE: The monthly earnings cap of social security contributions is EUR 5,005.
The General Healthcare System (GHS) is a comprehensive system that offers equal access to healthcare services for all citizens, with the option to choose their healthcare provider from both the private and the public sectors.
The employer contribution to the National Health System is 2.9%.
All the employers operating in Cyprus are required to conclude an Employer’s Liability Insurance Contract with an authorized licensed insurance agency. It is the employer’s responsibility to check whether the insurance agency with which the Insurance Contract is concluded is authorized.
For each accident or occupational disease in relation to each employee, the minimum coverage limit is €160,000 including expenses and interest. For each insurance period, the minimum coverage limit is €5,125,000.00 including expenses and interest.
Unemployment benefits are financed by the social security system.
Unemployment benefit is payable to employed persons between the ages of 16 and 63 for involuntary unemployment. Persons who do not satisfy the insurance conditions of old-age pension at the age of 63 are allowed to receive benefits up to the date of which they satisfy the relevant insurance conditions but in no case after the age of 65. The period for which unemployment benefit is payable does not exceed 156 days for each period of interruption of employment.
Old-age pension is payable to all insured persons (employed, self-employed, or voluntarily insured persons) upon reaching the pensionable age of 65, provided that they meet the relevant insurance conditions. The monthly rate of the social pension is 81% of the full basic statutory pension which is paid by the Social Insurance Fund.
The employer’s contribution to the state-administered Social Insurance Fund is 8.3% of their gross remuneration.
All companies in Cyprus are obliged to contribute a fixed share of their payroll costs (0.5%) to a training fund and in return may receive contributions to their training costs. The objective of the fund is to create the necessary prerequisites for the planned and systematic training and development of Cyprus’s human resources, at all levels and in all sectors, for meeting the economy’s needs, within the overall socio-economic policies.
An employed person’s wages or salary during annual leave is either paid directly by the employer or out of the Central Holiday Fund. Employers who are not exempted from the obligation to contribute to the Annual Holiday Fund are obliged to pay contributions to the Central Holiday Fund.
Employers contribute 8% to the holiday fund.
The termination of employment introduces the obligation for compensation to redundant employees who have continuous service of at least 104 weeks. Redundancy compensation to employees is covered by the Redundancy Fund which is entirely financed by employers’ contributions (1.2% of employees’ gross earnings). The redundancy fund covers both individual and collective redundancies.
The information contained in this Country Guide is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. The contents of this Country Guide contain general information and may not reflect current legal developments or address your situation. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this Country Guide without seeking the advice or representation of a licensed attorney. WorkMotion Software GmbH disclaims all liability for actions you take or fail to take based on any content included in this Country Guide.
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