Nicosia, Cyprus. A group of firefighters lost their legal challenge seeking compensation for on-call duties after the court of appeal upheld an earlier ruling rejecting the claim, the legal service announced on Tuesday. The case concerned standby duty carried out between 2006 and 2015, when the fire service operated under the police.
Appeal and legal basis
The appeal concerned firefighters who sought payment for being placed on standby duty during the period in question. They argued that their claim was supported by European Union rules governing working time.
Court findings on EU law
In its judgment, the court ruled that the relevant EU directive on the organisation of working time does not regulate employee remuneration and could not provide a legal basis for the compensation sought. The court accepted the legal service’s position that decisions on payment for standby duty fall within the competence of individual member states rather than EU law.
Role of the police
The court further held that responsibility for examining the request rested with the police, which at the time had authority over the fire brigade. After determining that the matter was governed by national law, the court examined whether the police had sufficiently justified its decision to reject the firefighters’ request.
Reasoning and legislative framework
The court concluded that the police decision had been properly reasoned and lawfully taken. A central issue in the case was the absence of any legislative framework governing compensation for standby duty. According to the judgment, the institution of on-call service “has not been legally established” and no provision exists determining payment for time spent on standby.
