There are no specific regulations in the Cypriot legal system regarding employee ownership or profit-sharing schemes. An employer can gift shares in their business to their employers or they can set up a share acquisition scheme to allow employees to acquire a stake in the business they work for or another company within the group.
Cyprus law allows businesses to protect themselves against the unauthorised disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information by both current and former employees to third parties. The extent of the protection allowed depends on the nature of the information which the employer is seeking to protect. An employer and employee or worker might agree to an confidentiality clause / non-disclosure agreement…
Each employee who works 48 weeks within one year is entitled to paid annual leave with pay of four weeks. Employees, who work 5 days a week, are entitled to annual leave of 20 working days, whereas employees who work 6 days a week, to annual leave of 24 working days. Temporary absence from work due to an accident, sickness, maternity, parental leave or leave on grounds of force majeure, is considered as a working period.
An employed pregnant woman is entitled to maternity leave for 18 consecutive weeks. Nine of the weeks must be taken within the period beginning on the second week before the week of expected childbirth.
Female employees who adopt a child under the age of 12 years and who has notified the Department of Social Welfare Services of the adoption are entitled to 16 continuous weeks maternity leave starting immediately from the date on which care of the child begins. The employee has an obligation to inform her employer, at least six weeks in advance, of her intention to adopt a child and of the date of taking the care of the child.
Under Cyprus law there is an implied duty of fidelity that is the basis for the existence of a contract of employment. An employee during the course of the employment relationship must offer his services to in a trustworthy and faithful manner. Covenants not to compete, solicit or act in a manner which is prejudicial to his or her employer’s interests for the duration of the employment may be implied even if they are not expressed on the employment agreement.
The ECJ has confirmed that Member States are not obliged to allow annual leave in excess of the four weeks’ annual leave under the Working Time Directive to be carried forward to the next leave year if it has not been taken due to sickness.
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held in the case of López Ribalda and Others v. Spain (applications nos. 1874/13 and 8567/13, 17.02.2019) that employees’ right to privacy was not violated when a Spanish supermarket used visible and secret cameras to record public areas of the store when it suspected significant theft by employees.
Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 setting up the European Labour Authority (ELA) came into force on 01.08.2019. The ELA will be based in Bratislava (Slovakia) and will aim to facilitate access for individuals and employers to information on their rights and obligations, support cooperation between national authorities in cross-border situations, by helping them ensure that the EU rules that protect and regulate mobility are easily and effectively followed and to provide mediation and facilitate solutions in case of cross-border disputes, such as in the event of company restructuring involving several Member States.
The European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2019/1152/EU on transparent and predictable working conditions. The Directive will provide new rights for all workers, and in particular addresses the insufficient protection for workers in more precarious jobs.
There are several ways in which an employment relationship may come to an end. An employment relationship can end by means of resignation, retirement, dismissal, redundancy or upon the expiry of a fixed-term contract.