Phase
Collective Dismissals Law of 2001 (Law 28(I)/2001); The Collective Dismissals (Amendment) Law of 2018 (Law 161 (I) / 2018)
Native name
Ν. 28(I)/2001 - Ο περί Ομαδικών Απολύσεων Νόμος του 2001; N. 161/I/2018 - Ο ΠΕΡΙ ΟΜΑΔΙΚΩΝ ΑΠΟΛΥΣΕΩΝ (ΤΡΟΠΟΠΟΙΗΤΙΚΟΣ) ΝΟΜΟΣ ΤΟΥ 2018
Type
Definition of collective dismissal
Added to database
08 May 2015

Article

Articles 2 and 3 of the Collective Dismissals Law of 2001 (Law 28(I)/2001); All articles of The Collective Dismissals (Amendment) Law of 2018 (Law 161 (I) / 2018)


Description

According to article 2 of the Collective Dismissals Law, 'collective dismissals' means dismissals effected by an employer, for one or more reasons not related to the individual workers concerned, where the number of dismissals over a period of 30 days is:

  • At least 10 for companies employing 21 to 99 employees;
  • At least 10% of total workforce for companies employing 100 to 299 employees;
  • At least 30 for companies employing 300 or more employees.

The law does not cover collective dismissals of fixed-term employees, unless the dismissals take place before the expiration or the conclusion of the employment contract (article 3 (a)).

The law does not cover civil servants, employees of semi-governmental organisations, local authorities, legal entities covered by public law (article 3 (b)).

The Law on Collective Dismissals (Law 28/I/2001) has been amended in 2018 by Law 161/I/2018. The amendment presents a harmonisation of Cyprus legislation with Directive EU2015/1794 amending Directives 2008/94/EC, 2009/38/EC and 2002/14/EC and the Directives 98/59/EC and 2001/23/EC concerning seafarers. The amendment extends coverage of collective dismissals law to seafarers. The law amends also the definition of 'responsible authority' by adding as an alternative responsible authority, besides the Ministry of Labour Welfare and Social Insurance, the Deputy Ministry of Maritime.


Commentary

Dismissals due to economic or technical reasons, such as declining profits, reorganisation of the company and technological advancement fall within the scope of the Collective Dismissals Law of 2001 and require the initiation by the employer of information and consultation procedures.

Trade unions reported involvement in negotiations over collective dismissals in organised enterprises. However, they do not have any information whether the definition of collective dismissals is sufficient, or if it is properly implemented in collective dismissals cases occurring in non-organised companies.


Additional metadata

Cost covered by
None
Involved actors other than national government
National government
Involvement (others)
None
Thresholds
Affected employees: 10
Company size: 21
Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances

Citation

Eurofound (2015), Cyprus: Definition of collective dismissal, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/definition-of-collective-dismissal/cyprus

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