The Balance between Professional and Private Lives
Cyprus Lawyers G Kouzalis LLC report that the Cypriot House of Representatives, in December 2022, has passed the Parental, Parental Leave, Care, Domestic Violence, and Flexible Work Arrangements for the Balance between Professional and Private Life Law 216(I)/2022, which, among other significant changes, includes provisions regarding flexible work arrangements aimed at balancing professional and private life for parents and caregivers through the establishment of individual rights, specifically through the granting of rights to:
(a) Paternity leave, parental leave, care leave, and absence from work for reasons of domestic violence
(b) flexible work arrangements for working parents or caregivers.
Employees who meet the requirements set by the Law can, if they wish, request from their employer flexible forms of employment for a period to be agreed upon between employer and employee.
According to the Cypriot Lawyers, under the new provision of the Law, employees who meet the requirements set by the relevant legislation can offer their services alternatively, either through teleworking, or have a flexible working schedule or work reduced hours or in any other form of work for a limited period or indefinitely as agreed with the employer. If an employee exercises their rights arising from this legislation, this in no way equates to a cessation of their continuous employment, and in no case does it mean that they are entitled to less favourable treatment.
Article 19 of the Cypriot Law, N.216(I)/2022 states that an employee, regardless of gender, who is a parent of a child up to 8 years old or a caregiver, meaning an employee who provides personal care, support to a relative, or a person residing in the same household as the employee who needs significant care or support for medical reasons, as determined by Law, has the right to request flexible work arrangements from their employer for care purposes.
The Cypriot law firm G Kouzalis LLC analyses that a necessary condition set by Cypriot legislation for the above is the continuous employment of the employee for a period of at least 6 months with the same employer. In the case of an employee who works with fixed-term contracts with the same employer, if they have worked with successive contracts of duration equal to or greater than 6 months, they can also request flexible work from their employer.
To achieve the stated purpose, the employee who meets the relevant requirements and wishes to work in a flexible form of employment must submit their request to their employer, who must consider both the needs of the business and the needs of the employee and respond to the employee’s request within 1 month of its submission.
In the event of a positive response from the employer, the form of employment and the period of its validity are agreed upon between the employee and the employer. However, the employer’s right, according to recent Cypriot Legislation, taking into account the employee’s circumstances, to postpone or reject the request, informing the Employee in writing of the reasons for rejecting the request, is not waived.
After the agreement between the employer and the employee and considering that the period of application of flexible work arrangements has expired, the employee has the right to return to the initially agreed form of employment. The same applies in cases where the reasons for which the employee requested flexible employment have ceased and/or the conditions that forced them to request such employment have changed. In this case, the employee may request a return to their initial form of employment before the expiration of the agreed period, and in this case, the employer will consider the request and decide, taking into account both the needs of their business and the needs of the employee.
For more information, please contact us, your Legal Advisors in Cyprus, at Law Office G. Kouzalis LLC at 23811788 or via email at lawfirm@cytanet.com.cy