Labour and Employment Law

Labour and Employment Law

Labour law (also known as Employment law) is a part of the private civil law that deals with all aspects of the relationship between workers and their employer, trade unions and the government. However, public employees are protected by public administrative law in their employment. It includes health and safety at work and work-related accidents or diseases, employment insurance, payment of wages and social security contributions, working hours and overtime, and generally all aspects or problems arising in employment contracts or at work. Collective labour law deals with collective agreements i.e. the relationship between the employees and their trade union on one hand and the employer on the other, whereas Individual labour law deals with the rights and obligations of the employees at work and their employment contract. Industries usually have minimum acceptable employment standards and conditions of work and these are monitored by the relevant government authority or department and are regulated by the relevant legal statute and regulations.

The most important aspect of labour law is focused on the mutual contractual obligations between the employee and the employer which frame the working relationship of the parties during employment.

Employment Obligations

Most of the contract terms and conditions of employment are regulated by specific legislation whilst a few are deemed to be customary or common law obligations:

The obligations of the employer:

To carry accident insurance (Employment insurance law applies in Cyprus).
To offer safe conditions at the workplace (Health and safety at work law applies in Cyprus).
To give mandatory breaks and leave of absence (Organisation of work-time law applies in Cyprus).
To allow for sickness, maternity, bereavement and force majeure leave (Sickness leave and Maternity leave laws apply in Cyprus).
Not to demand work exceeding the maximum working hours allowed. In Cyprus under the Organisation of work-time law the maximum working hours per week allowed are 48 (40 plus 8 hours overtime which are compensated at the same hourly rate as normal hours, unless a collective agreement provides differently).
To contribute to social security (social security laws apply in Cyprus).
To pay wages (under the Protection of Salaries Law, in Cyprus it is a criminal offence to deny payment of wages) and in some regulated industries to pay at least a minimum wage (in Cyprus minimum wages are negotiated only in some industries e.g. in construction, between the trade unions and employer organizations through collective agreements that also cover non-union workers at workplaces with collective agreements. At workplaces without collective agreements there are no minimum wages and these are regulates by completion.)
To terminate employment for just cause (termination of employment law applies in Cyprus).
To provide a working environment that is free from bullying, harassment and discrimination (discrimination law applies in Cyprus).
To allow employees to join a trade union (a constitutional right in Cyprus).
To provide employees with written particulars of employment (Particulars of employment law applies in Cyprus) with the essentialia negotii (“essential terms”) e.g.:

Place of work.
Working hours.
Description of duties.
Compensation (gross salary/wages).
Annual leave of absence.
Sickness time.
Mode of work (part-time/full-time).
Duration of employment contract.
Reasons for termination (can only be legal reasons)

The obligations of the employee:

To offer his services.
To work with due diligence.
To carry out and follow orders and instructions.
To be punctual and not to leave work without permission.
To respect the employer.
To take care and respect the employer’s property.
To be honest and not to be corrupt.
To disclose wrongdoing by him/her or other employees.
Not to disclose the employer’s industrial and other secrets, confidential information.
Not to compete with the employer’s business whilst an employee or infringe the employer’s intellectual property

Employment at will

In the EU employment “at will” (with termination for “any” reason) is only allowed for a small period of time (during which the parties shall have an opportunity to assess whether they can establish a working relationship). Thereafter employment is considered to be permanent (indefinite) i.e. without a termination date until the mandatory retirement age is reached. This provision cannot be circumvented by offering an employee consecutive short-term contracts. These cannot exceed a 30 month period whereupon employment is deemed to be permanent.

In Cyprus employment cannot be terminated unless under certain specific legal conditions are met e.g.:

When the employee does not carry out his work in a reasonably adequate manner.
When the employee is redundant e.g. because the business section or the whole company is closing or downsizing.
When force majeure reasons apply e.g. war, civil unrest, destruction of premises due to flood, earthquake, fire etc.
When the contract period expires (for fixed term contracts) but this provision cannot be used to discriminate employees or treat them unfavourably or to keep them perpetually as temporary staff).
When the employee reaches retirement age.
When the employee exhibits such behaviour that he/she is subject to dismissal without notice such as:

Such behaviour of the employee which makes it clear that the relationship of the parties cannot be expected to continue.
Commission of a serious infraction by the employee whilst on duty.
Commission of a criminal offence by the employee whilst on duty, without the employer’s verbal or implied consent.
Improper or rude behaviour of the employee whilst on duty (towards staff or customers)
A serious or repeated violation or neglect of work rules or other rules related to employment.

In Cyprus, a person whose employment has been terminated illegally may, within a year, initiate an action for wrongful termination against the employer and seek damages and/or reinstatement (only in cases where the employer employs 20 persons or more and it is proven that termination was manifestly illegal or illegal and malicious),

Collective Agreements and Trade Unions

Collective labour law deals with collective agreements i.e. the relationship between the employees and their trade union on one hand and the employer on the other. Trade unions are organized groups of workers that form an organization which generally aims to promote the interests of their members who belong to particular trade or their families. Due to their strength in their numbers and the right to strike, trade unions engage in collective bargaining with employers. Laws may govern the circumstances and procedures under which unions can be formed and which persons have a right or are allowed to be its members, or how collective agreements can be reached. In Cyprus the right to form a trade union is constitutionally enshrined as a human right in articles 26 (Right to form trade unions and collective agreements) and 27 (Right to strike peacefully).

Our Services

Our services include all employment and labour matters, claims and disputes such as:

Legal Opinions.
Drafting employment contracts and agreements.
Wrongful termination (damages and reinstatement).
Discrimination at work.
Non-payment of salaries and/or social security contributions.
Redundancy.
Appeals etc.