The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is promoting three important steps in the field of labor relations. According to the minister in charge, a bill on wage transparency is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet in September, while a bill on adequate minimum wages is being submitted to Parliament before the end of the year. At the same time, an Action Plan to strengthen collective bargaining is expected to be finalized by November.
In response to a parliamentary question from Famagusta MP George Koukoumas, Labor Minister Marinos Mousiouttas stated that the bill to harmonize with Directive (EU) 2023/970 on equal pay and pay transparency “is expected to be submitted for approval by the Council of Ministers in September and, subsequently, be submitted to the House of Representatives for a vote.”
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The bill has already been discussed in the Tripartite Technical Committee with the participation of the employers’ organizations OEB and KEVE and the labor unions SEK, PEO, and DEOK, and was preceded by a public consultation held from November 4 to December 5, 2025. Subsequently, following discussion in the Labor Advisory Council, the preliminary draft was forwarded to the Legal Service for legal review.
According to the draft bill, the first deadline for employers to submit data on the gender pay gap is June 6, 2027.
Bill on Adequate Minimum Wages
Meanwhile, in response to a question from Limassol MP Dimitris Souglis, Mr. Mousiouttas stated that the bill to harmonize with Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages is “undergoing a new legal review by the Republic’s Legal Service.”
Once the review is complete, she adds, the bill will be forwarded for approval by the Council of Ministers and subsequently submitted to the House of Representatives “before the end of this year, provided that the legal review is completed in a timely manner.”
Referring to the delay in harmonization with the Directive, the Minister explains that the process took into account, among other things, the pending case before the Court of Justice of the European Union following Denmark’s appeal, which challenged the legal basis of the Directive.
“The Court’s ruling on this matter was a significant development for the further advancement of the harmonization process,” he states.
Mr. Mousiouttas also notes that the provisions of the Minimum Wages Law of 2022 and the relevant Decree are already in force in Cyprus, which, as he states, “constitute an important measure for the protection of workers” and are part of the broader policy framework for promoting adequate minimum wages.
Completion of an action plan for collective bargaining agreements
Regarding collective bargaining agreements, the Minister of Labor, responding to a question from Limassol MP Dimitris Souglis, stated that approximately 40% of employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, including those in the private and broader public sectors.
He clarified that this estimate is based “on the registration of union members with the Registrar of Trade Unions.”
Mr. Mousiouttas states that the Cypriot system of labor relations is based on free collective bargaining and tripartite cooperation, noting that “there is no specific legislation that makes all sectoral collective agreements universally binding on all employers in a sector.”
Currently, collective agreements apply, among others, to the hotel, construction, furniture and woodworking, vehicle importers’ repair shops, and the mosaic industry, as well as in other sectors. Company-level collective bargaining agreements also exist in banks, ports, fleet management companies, manufacturing and service sector enterprises, as well as in organizations within the broader public sector.
According to the Minister, collective agreements do not have direct legal force, and any violations are addressed under the Industrial Relations Code rather than through the Labor Disputes Court.
At the same time, the Ministry is in dialogue with the social partners to prepare an Action Plan aimed at increasing coverage by collective bargaining, within the framework of Cyprus’s voluntary labor relations system.
According to the Minister’s response, the Action Plan “is expected to be finalized by November 2026” and then be submitted to the European Commission, in accordance with the obligations arising from Directive (EU) 2022/2041.
To promote wage transparency, the Ministry has also undertaken infrastructure projects, including the “eValueJobs” project, worth €52,117.32, which was completed in June 2026, and the “Support Measures for Wage Transparency,” totaling €1.1 million, which will be implemented by December 2027 and includes, among other things, an information system for employers to submit data on the wage gap.
Source: CNA
