Termination of Employment in Cyprus

The Employment Law (100(1)/2000) in Cyprus includes both statute and case law. Specifically, Cyprus statute law contains issues related to the termination of employment, paid leave, annual social insurance, maternity leave, equal treatment at work e.t.c. The Labour Disputes Courts deals with issues related to the rights of employees and employers.

The Employment Law applies to every employee who has a contract or employment relationship in the private, public and semi-governmental sector.

The Employment Law does NOT apply to:

· employees whose total period of employment is less than one month;

· employees whose total hours of employment is less than eight hours in a given week;

· employees whose employment is of a casual nature and/or particular nature under the condition that in these cases the non-application of the Law is justified by objective reasons; Employment

In this article, our employment lawyers will present the primary aspects of termination of employment in Cyprus, i.e. notice period, unlawful termination of employment and redundancy.

Under the Termination of Employment Law (24/1967), an employer intending to dismiss an employee, who has completed at least 26 weeks of continuous employment, is obliged to give the employee a minimum period of notice based on the length of his/her service, as illustrated below:

26 -51 weeks work (6 months- 1 year)

One week notice

52 – 103 weeks work (1-2 years)

Two weeks notice

104 – 155 weeks work (2-3 years)

Four weeks notice

156- 207 weeks work (3-4 years)

Five weeks notice

208 – 259 weeks work (4-5 years)

Six weeks notice

260 – 311 weeks work (5-6 years)

Seven weeks notice

More than 312 weeks work (more than 6 years)

Eight weeks notice

Unlawful termination of employment:

Following the Termination of Employment Law, an employee whose employment has been terminated unlawfully after completing 26 weeks of continuous employment with an employer is entitled to receive compensation. In addition, an employee who quit his/her job due to his/her employer’s conduct is also eligible to receive compensation. Second of all, it should be clarified that the amount of compensation is determined by the Labour Disputes Court following an application by the employee.