Cyprus
Bright oceanside vistas, old architecture, and favorable policies for remote workers make it a great spot—and if you’ve found someone in Cyprus you’d like to hire, this page is for you. We’ll teach you how to hire talent in Cyprus without stumbling into a months-long procession of paperwork and thousands in fees.
Country snapshot
CURRENCY
Euro (EUR)
EMPLOYER TAXES
22.9%
PAYROLL FREQUENCY
Monthly
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Greek & Turkish
It’s the fastest way to hire globally
Hiring employees takes months, at the minimum. When you hire with Thera's locally-generated contracts, it’s a matter of days or weeks. This means you can hire the best talent, fast, without losing them to a hellish procession of paperwork.
It’s a lot cheaper
It costs just $0 to sign up for Thera, then $25 per month to hire your contractors with Thera. If you hired employees manually (or did contracting on your own), you’d likely be on the hook for thousands of dollars each month. Setting up an entity alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
It’s more flexible for you & your team
Can be less risky than hiring employees
Hiring employees is a bigger commitment, and can open you up to increased liabilities and regulations. When you hire contractors overseas, your biggest risk is misclassification—but laws surrounding contractor classification are often significantly more straightforward.
Some people want to be employees
The contractor life isn’t for everyone—some people want the security that being an employee often appears to provide. Though it’s rare, this does happen, and it’s one disadvantage of manage an all-contractor team.
You might not have as much control over your talent
Most countries’ contractor-employer relationship laws stipulate that the employer can’t set fixed working hours, among other things. These laws give contractors more freedom over how and when they do their work than an employee would have. In reality, however, most contractors are willing & able to work on the company’s schedule—it’s a matter of setting expectations beforehand.
No matter where you’re based out of, we can tell you one thing: Cyprus has different labor laws than your home country (well, unless your home country is Cyprus, of course). If you don’t do things right, you’ll be putting your company at the risk of fines—and risk losing the talent you brought onboard.
Hire talent as contractors
Hire talent as employees
If you’ve read up until this point, you’ll know that it’s easier, cheaper, and more flexible to hire contractors in Cyprus than employees. Still, there are valid reasons why you might want to hire employees instead. The content below is for you—we’ll cover employer taxes and obligations in Cyprus
Employer tax
Social Insurance
Social Cohesion
Redundancy
Training & Development
National Health System (NHS)
Holiday Fund (if not exempt)
Paid Time Off (PTO)
PTO is calculated by the:
- The minimum annual leave is 20 days for employees who work a 5 day work week and 24 days for employees who work a 6 day work week.
Public Holidays
There are 14 public holidays.
Sick Days
The duration of sick leave entitlement provided to workers is dependent on how long they have been employed by their employer:
- Sick leave and its payment are not subject to rules except for specific areas where there are relevant regulations in place or where this is provided in the employment contract.
- The social insurance legislation provides for sick pay from the 4th day of leave.
Maternity Leave
Female employees are entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave and are extended to 22 weeks when there are twins, and 26 weeks when there are at least 3 births.
During this time the employee receives 72% of their salary and it is paid by the government.
Paternity Leave
Fathers are entitled to a total of 16 weeks of paternity leave, where 2 consecutive weeks can be taken with 16 weeks of the birth of a child.
Parental Leave
Parents are entitled to unpaid parental leave of up to 18 weeks for childcare purposes until the child reaches 8 years of age.
Other Leave
None.
Marriage Leave
None.
Bereavement Leave
None.
Termination Process
The termination process should be specified in the employment agreement.
Notice Period
The notice period in Cyprus is:
- 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 or more- 8 weeks’ notice
The only time a notice is not required is when the employee has committed a serious offense. The notice period must be given in writing.
Severance Pay
The severance pay varies based on length of employment:
- 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
Probation Period
The common practice is 6 months – 2 years and must be outlined in the employment agreement.
Working Hours
A full-time workweek is 44 hours or 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Overtime should be outlined in the employment contract as there are no applicable laws in Cyprus.
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