Labour ministry to investigate hotel agency worker allegations

Nicosia, Cyprus. Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said on Wednesday that the ministry will investigate allegations that hotels are using temporary agency workers to bypass employment protections.

He said the ministry and labour department would examine complaints from trade unions Sek and Peo concerning the supply of third-country workers to hotels through agencies and other intermediaries.

Inspections and workers’ rights

Mousiouttas said the ministry’s efforts would focus on determining through inspections whether such practices exist and, where necessary, pursuing legal action.

“Cyprus is not a ‘slave market’,” he said.

The minister said workers’ rights must be respected regardless of nationality, race, religion, colour or gender. He added that the ministry would seek to reduce, if not eliminate, such practices.

Union concerns

The comments followed warnings from Sek and Peo that hotels are increasingly sourcing workers through agencies rather than employing them directly under collective agreements governing the sector.

Sek secretary-general Michalis Frangou said some hotels were obtaining third-country workers from agencies that had originally recruited them for other sectors.

He said the practice could create “two-speed employees” and allow employers to avoid collective agreements and other employment obligations.

Frangou said the issue affected jobs across the hotel sector, including housekeeping, cleaning, kitchens, bars and restaurants.

Pay and benefits

Peo hotel workers’ secretary-general Neophytos Timinis said workers supplied through intermediaries could be paid by the hour without receiving the benefits or conditions set out in collective agreements.

“These employees are paid by the hour, without any application of the collective agreement and without benefits,” he said.