Answer ... Maternity leave: An employee has the right to 18 weeks of maternity leave, 11 of which must be taken in the period starting from two weeks before the week of the expected birth. In the case of a second child, there is an entitlement for a further four weeks after the first 18 weeks; and in the case of three or more children, there is an entitlement for a further eight weeks after the first 18 weeks. Nursing mothers have a right to a paid one-hour breastfeeding break after their return to work. In addition, express protection from dismissal applies from the start of pregnancy until five months after the end of maternity leave (with certain exceptions). There are also additional provisions specific to adoptive mothers and surrogates.

Paternity leave: An employee whose spouse has given birth, has had a child by surrogacy or has jointly adopted with the spouse a child under 12 years old has the right to paternity leave for two continuous weeks during the period starting from the week of the childbirth or adoption and ending 16 weeks thereafter. Express protection from dismissal applies during that period (with certain exceptions).

Parental leave and leave on grounds of force majeure: Employees of either gender who have completed six months or more of continuous employment with the same employer can claim unpaid parental leave for up to 18 weeks in total on the grounds of childbirth or adoption. In the case of natural parents, parental leave is taken after the end of the maternity leave and before the child’s eighth birthday. In the case of adoption, it is taken within eight years of the date of adoption of the child, provided that the child is still under the age of 12.

A minimum of one week’s parental leave and a maximum of five weeks’ parental leave may be taken per calendar year for one or two children; the maximum for three children or more is seven weeks. With the employer’s consent, the maximum leave may exceed these limits. Provisions that are more favourable to the employee than the provisions of the law may apply under a collective agreement or by agreement between the employer and employee.

Answer ... Please see question 2.1.

Answer ... Cyprus has a relatively high level of trade union organisation.

The main national, multi-sectoral workers’ organisations are:

• the Pancyprian Federation of Labour;
• the Cyprus Workers Confederation;
• the Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus; and
• the Pancyprian Federation of Independent Trade Unions.

Other independent sectoral workers’ organisations include:

• the Pancyprian Union of Public Servants;
• the Pancyprian Organisation of Greek Teachers;
• the Organisation of Greek Secondary Education Teachers; and
• the Union of Banking Employees of Cyprus.

According to Law 71/65, as amended, providing for trade unions, trade unions have the right:

• to possess property under their legally registered name;
• to contract;
• to appear before courts as either plaintiff or defendant; and
• to proceed with all necessary actions to accomplish their purposes.

However, to enjoy these rights, a trade union must be legally registered as such.

For the purposes of harmonisation with Directive 2009/38/EC, the Parliament of Cyprus enacted Law 106(I)/2011 providing for the establishment of a European works council for the purpose of safeguarding employees’ rights to information and consultation in EU-scale undertakings and EU-scale groups of undertakings. The law aims to guarantee and improve the right to information and consultation of employees in such undertakings and groups of undertakings.

Finally, the Recognition of Trade Union Organisation and of the Right to Provide Trade Union Facilities for Recognition Purposes Law of 2012 allows groups of employees at an undertaking to apply to the registrar of trade unions for recognition of a trade union for the purposes of negotiation with the employer, under certain conditions and subject to the fulfilment of certain requirements.

Answer ... The protection of data and privacy of employees is safeguarded by the following statutes and directives:

• Article 15 of the Constitution – every person has the right to respect for his or her private and family life;
• Article 17 of the Constitution – every person has the right to respect for, and to the secrecy of, his or her correspondence and other communications, if such other communications are made through means not prohibited by law;
• EU Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (‘EU General Data Protection Regulation’);
• the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and Free Movement of Such Data Law of 2018;
• the Directive of the Cyprus Commissioner for Personal Data Protection on the Processing of Personal Data in the Sector of Employment Relationships; and
• all international instruments to which Cyprus is a party that guarantee the right to privacy, such as:
• • the European Convention on Human Rights;
  • the European Charter of Fundamental Rights;
  • pertinent International Labour Organization conventions; and
  • Court of Justice of the European Union and European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence.

Under Article 6 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the processing of personal data is allowed only in the following cases:

• The data subject has consented to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
• The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
• The processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
• The processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
• The processing is necessary to perform a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller; or
• The processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require the protection of personal data – in particular, where the data subject is a child.

Further, pursuant to Article 9 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, there is a general prohibition on the collection and processing of sensitive data (“special categories of personal data”) which, under Article 9(1) may be waived, among other things, where:

• the employee has given his or her explicit consent;
• the processing is necessary to carry out the obligations and exercise specific rights of the controller or the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law, insofar as it is authorised by EU or member state law or a collective agreement pursuant to member state law providing for appropriate safeguards for the fundamental rights and interests of the data subject;
• the processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person, where that person is physically or legally incapable of giving consent;
• the processing:
• • is carried out by a foundation, association or any other not-for-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim in the course of its legitimate activities and with appropriate safeguards; and
  • relates solely to the members or to former members of the body or to persons who have regular contact with it in connection with its purposes;
• and the personal data is not disclosed outside that body without the consent of the data subject;
• the processing relates to personal data which is manifestly made public by the data subject;
• the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity;
• the processing:
• • is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of EU or member state law;
  • is proportionate to the aim pursued;
  • respects the essence of the right to data protection; and
  • provides for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and interests of the data subject;
• the processing is necessary for the following purposes, on the basis of EU or member state law or pursuant to a contract with a health professional and subject to conditions and safeguards:
• • preventive or occupational medicine;
  • the assessment of the working capacity of the employee;
  • medical diagnosis;
  • the provision of health or social care or treatment; or
  • the management of health or social care systems and services;
• the processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health (eg, protecting against serious cross-border threats to health or ensuring high standards of quality and safety of healthcare and of medicinal products or medical devices), on the basis of EU or member state law which provides for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject, in particular professional secrecy; or
• the processing:
• • is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes based on EU or member state law;
  • is proportionate to the aim pursued;
  • respects the essence of the right to data protection; and
  • provides for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and interests of the data subject.

The most common methods of employee monitoring which give rise to obligations upon the employer under pertinent data protection legislation include:

• monitoring employee faxes, emails and web browser history;
• recording inbound and outbound calls (frequency, duration, time);
• closed-circuit video monitoring systems; and
• monitoring/recording the position/movement of employees and/or work vehicles through the Global Positioning System.

In all cases, employers must ensure that:

• data is processed fairly, in accordance with the law and for specific and legitimate purposes; and
• the data is relevant, appropriate and not excessive in relation to the purpose of the data processing.

Moreover, the Cyprus commissioner for personal data protection has issued a Directive on the Processing of Personal Data in the Sector of Employment Relationships. Under Section 14 of the directive, the following principles must be followed in instances of employee surveillance and monitoring:

• The employer may install electronic surveillance systems at the workplace for legitimate purposes which the employer pursues, provided that these purposes supersede the rights, interests and fundamental freedoms of the employees.
• The means/monitoring systems that the employer chooses to install and the data collected must be proportionate to the objective pursued.
• The employer must choose the least interventionist means of monitoring in order to satisfy the pursued aims.
• The personal data of employees collected during the monitoring stage must be used only for the purpose for which the monitoring is carried out.
• The personal data of employees collected during the monitoring stage must be destroyed or deleted once the purpose for which the monitoring is carried out has been fulfilled.
• The employer must in all instances inform employees before the monitoring begins of the purpose, method, duration and technical specifications of the surveillance.
• Continual monitoring in the workplace must be avoided.
• Secret surveillance is prohibited.
• The employer may choose to prohibit employees from using company equipment for personal purposes, such as sending emails or making outbound telephone calls.
• The employer must inform employees of:
• • how they can use company equipment;
  • the electronic surveillance methods which will be used; and
  • the consequences for employees resulting from the use of such equipment for personal purposes.
• The access of the employer to the content of personal emails and personal telephone calls of employees is prohibited.
• Employees maintain the right to protection of their private life, even in the workplace.
• The employer must maintain a balance between this right and the degree to which the surveillance systems interfere with the private life of employees.

Answer ... Employment contracts in Cyprus may be for a fixed term or indefinite. If an employee is continuously employed for more than 30 months in total, his or her contract will be considered indefinite, unless the employer can show that such fixed-term employment can be justified on objective grounds, including the following:

• The needs of the company for the specific operation are temporary;
• The employee is replacing another employee;
• The particularity of the work justifies a fixed term;
• The employee is employed on probation;
• The fixed-term employment is on the application of a judicial decision;
• The duties of the position require a perfect physical condition; or
• The role concerns military-related work.