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Cyprus
Cyprus an island nation 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 Lebanon, Israel, andthe Gaza Strip; north of Egypt; and southeast of Greece. Nicosia is the country’s capital and largest city.
POPULATION
1,38 million inhabitants
CURRENCY
Euro (EUR)
GDP
$ 43.6 billion
MINIMUM MONTHLY WAGE:
1,088 EUR
TIME ZONE
UTC +2
Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean.
With an advanced, high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index, the Republic of Cyprus has beena member of the Commonwealth since 1961 and was afounding member of the Non- Aligned Movement until itjoined the European Union on 1 May 2004.
On 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone.
✓ Employment contract
– Permanent contract
– Fixed-term contract.
✓ Agency workers
A temporary work agency may hire an employee under a temporary employment contract (also known as atemping). The temporary employment contract may, in the event of a dispute, be considered indefinite.
✓ Independent contractors/self-employed – are companies or self-employed workers that are linked to another contractor by a contract to perform a service or deliver goods but are still acting independently from their co- contractors.
The maximum weekly hours of work are 48 hours, including overtime. The normal pattern of working hours in Cyprus is 40 hours per week. Additionally, the employee is entitled to at least 11 continuous hours of rest per day. If the daily period of work is greater than 6 continuous hours, the employee is entitled to a 15-minute break.
Except where more favorable provisions apply for the workers, the period of weekly working time cannot exceed 48hours on average, including overtime.
The rules are slightly different for shop workers: The normal hours of work of shop employees cannot exceed 38 hours aweek or 8 hours daily. The normal working hours do not include breaks and overtime.
All employees are entitled to paid leave for at least four weeks per year. Employees who work five days a week areentitled to at least 20 days of leave and those who work six days a week are entitled to 24 days of leave.
Cyprus Public Holidays
• New Year’s Day – 1 January 2026
• Epiphany – 6 January 2026
• Clean Monday – 23 February 2026
• Greek Independence Day – 25 March 2026
• Cyprus National Day – 1 April 2026
• Orthodox Good Friday – 10 April 2026
• Orthodox Holy Saturday – 11 April 2026 (not a statutory public holiday, but widely observed)
• Orthodox Easter Sunday – 12 April 2026 (Sunday – not an additional weekday holiday)
• Orthodox Easter Monday – 13 April 2026
• Orthodox Easter Tuesday – 14 April 2026
• Labour Day – 1 May 2026
• Pentecost (Kataklysmos) Monday – 1 June 2026
• Dormition of the Theotokos – 15 August 2026
• Cyprus Independence Day – 1 October 2026
• Greek National Day (Ohi Day) – 28 October 2026
• Christmas Day – 25 December 2026
• Boxing Day – 26 December 2026
A 13th salary payable around mid-December ofeach year is customary and widely practiced in Cyprus. There are no other mandated bonuses,but this largely depends on the industry (for example, in the banking and insurance sector bonuses are often included in employment contracts).
An employed pregnant woman is entitled to maternity leave for 18 consecutive weeks – 11 weeks are compulsory for both the employer and the employed woman (two weeks before the week of the expected delivery date, the week of delivery and eightweeks after the week of delivery).
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 2 consecutive weeks starting from the week of birth or adoption and ending after a period of 16weeks.
Maternity allowance is composed of the basic and the supplementary benefit. The weekly rate of the basic benefit is equal to 72% of the weekly average of the basic insurable earnings of the claimant in the previous contribution year. The weekly amount of the basic benefit is increased to 80% if she has one dependent, to 90% if she has two dependents and to 100% if she has three dependents. The maternity/paternity benefit is not paid if the person concerned receives their full salary duringthe period in which maternity allowance is granted. If they receive a reduced wage, the sum of that wage and the allowance must not exceed the full wage.
For the first 3 days of absence due to illness, the employee is not entitled to pay.
After 3 days, employees are eligible to receive a portion of their salary from the Social Insurance Fund.
Sick pay continues for 156 days and may be extended an additional 156 days if the insured is eligible for an incapacity pension. Some employers provide sick pay for the first three days, and some pay the balance of the salary that the Social Insurance Funddoes not cover.
Cyprus has a public/private health care system. Medical benefits are based on income.
Social security contributions in Cyprus are settled through the employee’s salary, where social security contributions are withheld from the salary every month and paid to the tax authorities, as well as the
employer’s own monthly contributions.An employee must contribute a rate of 11,45%, which is split into social insurance and health insurance contributions, whilst an employer contributes 15,40% of an employee’s salary.
Personal Income Tax (Personal Income Tax) — the rate depends on the amount of income. The rate of personal income taxis progressive, depends on the amount of income, and varies from 0% to 35%.
Procedure for obtaining VISA: Visas are issued by all the Diplomatic Missions (Embassies and General Consulates) of the Republic of Cyprus, and by all the Honorary Consulates of the Republic of Cyprus abroad in their respective countries. Regarding short-stay or travel visas a completed and signed application must be submitted to the competent Consulate alongwith the accompanying documents required depending on the reason requesting the issuance of a visa. The application takesup to one week.
Procedure for obtaining residence permit: All EU nationals require a residence permit if they intend to stay and work in Cyprus for over three months. During the first three months, EU nationals must apply for a Certificate of Registration within eight days after their arrival to Cyprus. The procedure can take up to two years for the immigration permit.
Procedure for obtaining residence work permit: A valid work permit is a precondition for all non-EU foreign nationals wishingto work in Cyprus. Most work permits are granted through the temporary residence permits system. Depending on the category of the temporary residence permit, the permit can enable the foreign national to reside and work in Cyprus for up toa period of five years and is renewable. A work permit can take up to six months to be examined.
If employer intending to terminate the employment of an employee, who has completed at least 26 weeks of continuous employment with that employer, is obliged to give the employee a minimum period of notice, depending on the length of hisservice, as follows:
26-51 weeks of employment- 1 weeks’ notice
52-103 weeks of employment- 2 weeks’ notice
104-155 weeks of employment- 4 weeks’ notice
156-207 weeks of employment- 5 weeks’ notice
208- 259 weeks of employment- 6 weeks’ notice
260- 311 weeks of employment- 7 weeks’ notice
312 weeks of employment or more- 8 weeks’ notice.
The severance pay varies based on length of employment. Compensation to redundant employees is calculated on the basis of the employee’s length of service.
2 weeks’ severance for each year of employment up to 4 years
2.5 weeks of wages for each year between 5-10 years of employment
3 weeks of wages for each year between 11-15 years of employment
3.5 weeks of wages for each year between 16-20 years of employment
4 weeks of wages for each year over 20 years of employment.
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