Labour inspectors to check construction sites for undeclared workers next month

Nicosia, Cyprus. The labour inspection service will carry out checks across the construction industry next month, targeting undeclared workers. Inspectors will also examine compliance with basic employment conditions, including working hours and weekly rest.

Inspections and penalties

The service said the campaign aimed to raise awareness among employers and workers of the consequences of undeclared employment and breaches of labour legislation.

Under existing law, an employer found to have an undeclared worker registered with the social insurance fund faces a fine of €1,000 per employee for the month in which the violation is detected. The fine rises by €500 for every six months the violation continues.

A second offence within two years raises the fine to €2,000, and a third or subsequent offence to €3,000. A lower fine applies if the employer shows the violation lasted for a shorter period; if it lasted longer, the fine is multiplied accordingly.

The labour ministry said its hotline, 77778577, remained open for anonymous or named reports of undeclared work or breaches of employment terms.

Complaints about temporary employment agencies

House labour committee chairman and Akel MP Giorgos Koukoumas said this week that complaints about the use of temporary employment agencies to supply construction and tourism workers were “linked to slave trade and human trafficking.”

He said the practice created a “two tier workforce”, describing cases in which “employers transport workers in buses or vans and leave them at workplaces, construction sites or elsewhere to work under degrading working conditions and for a pittance.”

Koukoumas said the labour ministry had acknowledged that such cases existed. The committee was awaiting data on whether sanctions or criminal proceedings had followed.

He also questioned why a bill addressing the liability of main contractors in construction had not yet reached parliament, saying it was needed “to close other legal windows that exist in such cases.”