Paphos info-file

Social Security

General
Every person residing lawfully in the Republic of Cyprus is entitled to benefit from the entire range of services provided by the Social Welfare Services. The services include those provided by the Service for Families and Children (support services for the family, child protection services, adoption, probation services, etc.), the Service for Public Assistance, Old Persons and Persons with Disabilities and the Community Work Service (cooperation with local authorities and non-governmental organisations).

Safeguarding of a minimum standard of living – beneficiaries and terms of entitlement.
The Public Assistance and Services Laws safeguard the right of every person residing lawfully in Cyprus to a decent minimum standard of living which encompasses meeting basic needs (food, clothing, footwear, water supply, fuel, lighting, items for hygienic living), as well as needs relating to the personal comfort of the applicant and other special needs (e.g. housing).

The public assistance payable monthly by the Social Welfare Services to cover basic needs amounts currently to £194 for the head of household, £97 for each dependant aged 14 and over and £58.20 for each dependant under 14 years of age.

Further Information
Social Welfare Services
At: 1468, Nicosia
Tel: 22 406601/602

Text last edited on: 06/2006

Coordinating arrangements: Maintenance and transfer of rights

Each Member State is free to decide, in accordance with its own legislation, which benefits to pay, the conditions under which they should be granted, the method of calculating them and how the contributions should be paid.

The Community provisions lay down common rules and principles which all national authorities, the social insurance bodies and the courts are obliged to comply with when applying national law. In that way, they ensure that the application of the varying national laws have no adverse effects on the exercise by workers and their families of the right to freedom of movement and residence in the European Union and the European Economic Area.

The Community provisions which coordinate the social security systems are based on the following main principles.

Equality of Treatment
Workers who move to another EU country have the same social insurance rights and obligations as the nationals of the country in which they are insured.

Workers are subject to the social insurance legislation of only one state at any one time. The general principle is that they are insured in the country in which they carry on their professional activity.

Aggregation of periods of insured employment or residence
Periods of insurance, employment or residence in one Member State can, if necessary, be taken into account for the establishment of a right to benefits in accordance with the legislation of another Member State.

Exportation of benefits.
The payment of benefits to persons who move, and to their family members, is ensured, irrespective of the state in which they reside.

The Community provisions on social insurance apply to nationals of the Member States of the EU and of the states of the EEA and stateless persons and refugees who are living in a Member State or a state of the EEA and who are:

  • waged employees or self-employed persons who are or were insured on the basis of the legislation of a Member State
  • civil servants
  • students
  • pensioners, even if they began to receive a pension before their country joined the European Union or the EEA
  • family members and survivors (widows, orphans, etc.) of the above-mentioned persons
  • survivors who draw insurance rights from waged or non-waged persons or students who have been subject to the legislation of one or more Member States, irrespective of their nationality, provided that the survivor is a national of a Member State of the EU or of a state of the EEA or a stateless person or a refugee resident in the territory of a Member State of the EU or of a state of the EEA
  • nationals of third countries who are residing lawfully in the territory of a Member State of the EU (excluding Denmark) when moving within the Member States of the EU

The social insurance provisions of the Community cover the following areas:

  • sickness and maternity
  • employment accidents
  • occupational diseases
  • disablement benefits
  • survivors' benefits
  • death benefit
  • unemployment benefit
  • child benefits
     
  • Further Information
  • Social Insurance Services
    At    : 7 Byron Avenue, 1465 Nicosia,
    Tel: 22 401772/685
  • International Affairs and EU Branch, for coordination of social insurance systems between EU Member States

    Text last edited on: 06/2006

E forms - General overview 

Implementation of the Community provisions on coordination of the social insurance systems requires the use of special forms (E forms). These are intended to ensure swift and effective cross-border communication between the social insurance bodies which implement the provisions. The forms contain all the necessary information for determining and proving the entitlement to benefits.

The most important series of forms are:

  • the E 100 series: for the secondment of workers and entitlement to sickness and maternity benefits
  • the E 200 series: for the calculation and payment of pensions
  • the E 300 series: for entitlement to unemployment benefits
  • the E 400 series: for entitlement to child benefits
     
  • Further Information
  • Social Insurance Services
    At    : 7 Byron Avenue, 1465 Nicosia,
    Tel: 22 401772/685
  • International Affairs and EU Branch, for coordination of social insurance systems between EU Member States.

Text last edited on: 06/2006

General Organisation

The Social Insurance Scheme has been functioning since 1957. Until 5 October 1980, the contributions and benefits of the Scheme were set at a uniform, fixed, level, irrespective of the earnings and incomes of the insured persons. From 6 October 1980, new social insurance legislation came into force under which both contributions and benefits were made proportionate and calculated as a percentage of the insured person's income from employment. The pensions granted before 6 October 1980 have been assimilated into the basic part of the pensions which are granted in accordance with the new legislation. The chief feature of this legislation is the provision it makes for the regular revaluation of insurable earnings and for the adjustment of benefits in line with salaries, wages and inflation.

The Scheme provides compulsory cover for every person who is gainfully occupied in Cyprus. Cypriots working abroad in the service of Cypriot employers and persons who interrupt their compulsory insurance are allowed to be insured voluntarily. Insured persons are classified in three categories: employed persons, self-employed persons and voluntary contributors.

The Scheme is financed by contributions from the employers, the insured persons and the State. The overall rate of insurance for employed persons and self-employed persons is 16.6 per cent and 15.6 per cent, respectively, of their insurable earnings.

In the case of employed persons, the contribution is calculated on the basis of the wage or salary up to a certain ceiling, which in 2006 is £479 per week or £2,076 per month. The contribution is shared between the employer, the employed person and the State at the rate of 6.3 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

In the case of self-employed persons, the contribution is calculated from income levels which are fixed according to occupation and the employment location. Unemployed persons are obliged in principle to pay contributions on the notional income of their occupational category, but also have the right to pay contributions on their actual income if it is shown to be lower than the notional income. Self-employed persons also have the right to choose to pay contributions based on a higher income than the relevant notional income, up to the maximum insurable earnings ceiling. The contribution is shared by the self-employed person and the State at the rate of 11.6 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

The contribution rate for voluntary contributors within Cyprus is 13.5 per cent of earnings. The insured person pays 10 per cent of the contribution and the State pays 3.5 per cent.

The contribution rate for voluntary contributors employed by a Cypriot employer abroad is 16.6 per cent. The insured person pays 12.6 per cent of the contribution, and the State pays 4 per cent.

The contributions collected under the social insurance legislation are paid into the Social Insurance Fund, out of which all social insurance benefits and administrative expenses for the implementation of the legislation are paid.

The Scheme provides financial benefits for maternity, sickness, unemployment, survivors, invalidity, orphans, old age, a missing spouse, funerals, employment injuries and occupational diseases. It also provides free medical treatment for persons with entitlement to an invalidity pension and for insured persons who have suffered bodily harm because of an employment injury or occupational disease. Employed persons have entitlement to all the above benefits. Self-employed persons are not entitled to unemployment benefit and benefits for employment injuries. Voluntary contributors are entitled only to marriage, maternity, survivor, old-age, missing person, orphan and funeral benefits. Voluntary contributors working abroad for Cypriot employers are entitled to all the benefits to which employed persons are entitled other than benefits for employment injuries.

All the periodic benefits are comprised of a basic benefit and a supplementary benefit. The basic benefit, which includes increases for dependants, is assessed on the basic insurable earnings amount. The supplementary benefit is assessed on the amount of earnings of the insured person in excess of the basic insurable earnings amount. Except in the cases of benefits paid for employment injuries and orphans, the payment of benefits under the Scheme is dependent on certain contribution requirements.
 

Further Information

  • Social Insurance Services
    At    : 7 Byron Avenue, 1465 Nicosia,
    Tel: 22 401772/685
  • International Affairs and EU Branch, for coordination of social insurance systems between EU Member States
     Text last edited on: 06/2006

Sickness insurance - Beneficiaries and conditions for entitlement

Sickness benefit is payable to insured employed and self-employed persons and to voluntary contributors working abroad for Cypriot employers. Persons under 16 or over 63 years of age are not entitled to this benefit. The ceiling of 63 years of age is raised to 65 years of age where the insured person is not entitled to an old-age pension.

Payment of sickness benefit is subject to the following requirements:

  • the insured person must be unable to work because of sickness and not receiving all his salary or wage from the employer during the period of his sickness
  • at least 26 weeks must have passed between the day on which the person became insured and the day on which he became unable to work, and in that period he must have paid earnings-related contributions totalling not less than 26 times the weekly basic insurable earnings amount
  • insurable earnings totalling not less than 20 times the weekly basic insurable earnings amount must have been paid or credited in the previous contributions year

Period of Payment

Employed persons are paid sickness benefit from the fourth day of their absence from work because of sickness. In the case of self-employed persons, the benefit becomes payable after the first 18 days of sickness. However, when a self employed person is unable to work because of an accident or is admitted to a hospital or clinic within four days of the date on which he became unable to work, and remains in the hospital or clinic for at least six days, the benefit is payable from the fourth day of the inability to work.

Sickness benefit is payable for at least 156 working days in each period of interruption of employment. Payment of the benefit may be extended for a further 156 working days in the same period of interruption of employment if the insured person satisfies the contributions requirements for an invalidity pension but is not expected to be permanently incapable of work.

The amount of the benefit is determined on the basis of the average weekly paid and credited insurable earnings of the insured person in the previous contributions year.

The benefit is comprised of a basic benefit and a supplementary benefit. The weekly amount of the basic benefit is equal to 60 per cent of the weekly average of the beneficiary's basic insurable earnings in the previous contributions year. It is increased by one third for the main dependant or spouse and by one sixth for each child or other dependant (up to a maximum of two dependent children and other dependants). The weekly amount of the supplementary benefit is equal to 50 per cent of the average weekly insurable earnings of the beneficiary in excess of the basic insurable earnings. However, in no case can the supplementary benefit be higher than the weekly basic insurable earnings amount.

In order to be paid sickness benefit, the insured person must submit an application on a special form which can be obtained from any social insurance office and from the website of the Social Insurance Services. The application must be accompanied by a medical certificate stating the sickness from which the claimant is suffering and the period for which he will be unable to work, and also by other certificates and documents of proof which are stated in the application form. After being completed appropriately by the applicant and the employer, the application is delivered to the nearest social insurance office.

Time Limit for the Submission of an Application for Sickness Benefit

The application must be submitted within 21 days of the day on which the claimant became unable to work. Where the application is submitted late, the benefit is paid retrospectively only for 21 days. However, in exceptional circumstances, where the claimant shows that there was a good reason for the delay in the submission of the application, the benefit may be paid if the claimant submits an application within 12 months of the day of the commencement of the inability to work.

The claimant loses entitlement to the benefit for six weeks if he:

  • is to blame for the inability to work
  • is found to have worked on any of the days for which payment of the benefit has been requested
  • behaves in a manner which could delay recuperation or neglects to attend for examination by a doctor or by the Medical Board or refuses to accept treatment without good reason

Double Entitlement

Where an insured person has entitlement to another periodic benefit from the Social Insurance Fund as well as to sickness benefit, only the benefit of greater value is paid.

A claimant who is not satisfied with the decision of the Department of Social Insurance concerning his application can challenge the decision by addressing an appeal to the Minister for Labour and Social Insurance within 15 days of receiving notification of the decision.

If the claimant is not satisfied with the decision of the Minister, he can lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court within 75 days of receiving notification of the Minister's decision.

Further Information

  • Social Insurance Services
    At    : 7 Byron Avenue, 1465 Nicosia
    Tel: 22 401772/685
  • International Affairs and EU Branch, for coordination of social insurance systems between EU Member States

Text last edited on: 11/2005

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