Pay transparency rules in Cyprus

The Department of Labour Relations (Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance) published a draft transposing law for public consultation on 5 November 2025. The consultation closed on 4 December 2025 and an updated draft followed in January 2026. On 6 September 2026 the Ministry said the bill, now reviewed by the Legal Service, is expected to go to the Council of Ministers for approval in September and then to the House of Representatives. It still needs Cabinet approval, a vote in the House of Representatives and publication in the Official Gazette before it takes effect. Cyprus did not complete this by the EU deadline of 7 June 2026, so as things stand the Directive's rules are not yet enforceable against employers in Cyprus. The sensible position for employers is to prepare on the assumption the draft becomes law largely as written, while treating every specific figure below as provisional until the final Act is published.

The draft closely follows the Directive. Before hiring, employers must give candidates the starting pay or pay range and any relevant collective agreement terms at a reasonable time before the interview, and job adverts and titles must be gender neutral. Employers cannot ask candidates about their pay history. Once employed, a worker can ask for their own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same work or work of equal value; the employer must respond within two months and must remind staff of this right every year. Contract clauses that stop workers discussing their pay are unenforceable for equal pay purposes. Note: a 100-employee threshold appears in some early consultation material, but the Directive's standard reporting thresholds (below) are the more reliable guide until the final Act is published, so treat thresholds as provisional.

Reporting cadence in the draft tracks the Directive: employers with 250 or more workers report annually; those with 150 to 249 report every three years; those with 100 to 149 report every three years; under 100 is voluntary. Under the Directive's own timetable, first reports fall due by 7 June 2027 for employers of 150 or more, and by 7 June 2031 for the 100 to 149 band, but Cyprus's late transposition means the exact first-report dates in the Cypriot Act are not yet confirmed. Where a report shows an average gender pay gap of at least 5 percent in any category of worker that the employer cannot justify on objective, gender-neutral grounds and does not fix within six months, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with worker representatives to identify and remedy the cause. All of these figures are provisional until the final Cypriot law is enacted.

The Cypriot draft is notably tougher than many member states on enforcement. It proposes criminal sanctions of up to six months imprisonment and fines of up to 10,000 euro, court orders to stop and remedy breaches, and full compensation for affected workers including back pay, interest and damages for non-material harm. It also extends liability to company directors, managers and certain advisers, who can be found personally guilty unless they prove the breach happened without their consent, connivance or negligence. The draft also eases the burden of proof, so in a pay discrimination claim the employer must show no breach occurred. These are draft provisions; the final penalty levels and liability rules may change before enactment.