Once you have worked for the same employer for 26 continuous weeks, a Cyprus employer can only dismiss you for one of the reasons the Termination of Employment Law 24/1967 allows. If it dismisses you for any other reason, or cannot prove the one it gives, you can claim compensation in the Labour Disputes Court. The award can be no lower than the redundancy payment you would have received and no higher than two years' wages. Claims are generally due within 12 months of the notice of termination.
Who is protected
The law covers almost every employee in Cyprus, in the private and public sectors, including apprentices and shareholders who work for their own private company. The qualifying condition is 26 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer. Before that point you can be let go without a stated reason and without notice.
That 26-week line now matches the ceiling on probation. The Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Law 25(I)/2023 caps probation at six months, so the old practice of agreeing probation periods of up to two years no longer works, as our guide to Cyprus employment contract rules explains.
One group falls outside compensation entirely. An employee who has reached pensionable age (65) before the employment ends cannot claim.
The only lawful reasons
Law 24/1967 turns the usual question around. It does not list what makes a dismissal unfair. It lists the reasons that make one lawful, and anything else is unlawful by default. According to the Ministry of Labour's own summary of the law, no compensation is payable where the employment ends because:
- 1The employee has become redundant.
- 2Of force majeure, acts of war, civil commotion, an act of God, or the destruction of the premises by a fire the employer did not cause.
- 3A fixed-term contract has run its course, or the employee has reached the normal retirement age for the job.
- 4Of the employee's own fault, meaning they failed to do the work in a reasonably efficient manner, or behaved in a way that justifies dismissal without notice.
Performance is the ground employers reach for most often, and it has a limit. Poor performance caused by illness or injury does not count, and an employer cannot even give notice to an employee who is off work incapacitated, for up to 26 weeks from the start of the incapacity.
The burden of proof sits with the employer. You need to show that you were dismissed. The employer then has to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that one of the lawful reasons applied. An employer who writes "restructuring" on the letter while hiring a replacement for the same job the following month will find that difficult.
When dismissal without notice is allowed
Summary dismissal is reserved for conduct serious enough that the working relationship cannot reasonably continue. The examples the law gives are:
- gross misconduct in the course of the job
- a criminal offence committed in the course of the job without the employer's agreement
- immoral behaviour at work
- serious or repeated breaches of work rules
Timing matters. An employer that learns of the misconduct and sits on it loses the right. If it does not act within a reasonable time, the dismissal is treated as unjustified.
Procedure matters too, even though the statute says little about it. The Cyprus courts have repeatedly held that an employee accused of misconduct should be told what the allegation is and given a chance to answer before being dismissed. A dismissal that skips that step is far easier to attack.
Reasons that are never valid
Some grounds can never support a dismissal, and an employer that relies on one is liable to pay compensation:
- trade union membership or activity, or sitting on a workplace safety committee
- standing for or acting as a workers' representative
- filing a complaint or taking part in proceedings against the employer, or appealing to an administrative authority
- race, colour, marital status, religion, political opinion, ethnic or social origin
- pregnancy or maternity
- taking parental leave or leave on grounds of force majeure
Pregnancy also has separate protection under the maternity legislation, with its own rules on when an employer may and may not give notice.
Constructive dismissal
You do not have to wait to be fired. Compensation is also payable where an employee resigns because of the employer's conduct. The usual complaints involve an employer that cuts pay, changes the job into something materially different, or makes working life impossible in the hope that the employee will leave on their own.
These claims are harder to win than a straightforward dismissal, because you have to prove that the employer's conduct justified leaving. Raise the complaint in writing before you resign, keep copies of everything, and take advice before handing in your notice. A resignation letter that says you are leaving for a better job will be quoted back at you.
How compensation is worked out
The Labour Disputes Court sets the award between two fixed points:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Minimum | The redundancy payment you would have received if made redundant |
| Maximum | Two years' wages |
| Paid by the employer | Up to one year's wages |
| Paid by the Redundancy Fund | Anything above one year's wages |
Within that range, the court weighs your earnings, your length of service, your age, the loss of career prospects and the circumstances of the dismissal. A 55-year-old dismissed in bad faith after 20 years in a specialised role will sit near the top. A 30-year-old who found an equivalent job within a month will sit much nearer the floor.
The floor follows the redundancy scale: two weeks' wages for each year of service up to four years, rising in steps to four weeks' wages per year for service of more than 20 and up to 25 years. Our redundancy guide sets out the full table. Because the award has a statutory minimum, even a short-service employee with a strong case has a claim worth something.
To take a simple example: an employee earning €2,500 a month has a maximum award of €60,000. The employer pays up to €30,000 of any award, and the Redundancy Fund covers the rest.
Reinstatement
Getting your job back is possible but uncommon. The court can order reinstatement only where the employer has 19 or more employees, the dismissal was unlawful and made in bad faith, and the employee applies for it. It can then also award damages for the actual loss suffered, capped at 12 months' wages. Most people who have been pushed out do not want to return, so compensation is the usual outcome.
Notice, and pay in lieu
A lawful dismissal still needs written notice, or pay in lieu of it. Law 24/1967 sets the minimum by length of service:
- 26 to 51 weeks: one week
- 52 to 103 weeks: two weeks
- 104 to 155 weeks: four weeks
- 156 to 207 weeks: five weeks
- 208 to 259 weeks: six weeks
- 260 to 311 weeks: seven weeks
- 312 weeks or more: eight weeks
Your contract or a collective agreement can give you more, never less. During notice you are entitled, by agreement, to up to eight hours a week off to look for work, capped at 40 hours in total, without loss of pay. If you find a new job during the notice period you can leave straight away, though you give up pay for the rest of the notice.
The obligation runs both ways. An employee who resigns owes one week's notice after 26 weeks, two weeks after 52 weeks and three weeks after 260 weeks.
Bringing a claim
Unfair dismissal claims go to the Labour Disputes Court, which sits in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca and is covered in our overview of the Cyprus court system. The application is generally due within 12 months of the date the notice of termination was served. Where redundancy was the stated reason and you applied to the Redundancy Fund, a separate nine-month window runs from the Fund's response.
Before filing, gather your contract, payslips, the dismissal letter and any warnings or emails that show the real reason for the decision. Many claims settle. A settlement agreement is binding if it is worded so the payment is clearly made in return for your undertaking not to sue, so read that clause carefully before you sign it.
Dismissed and not sure the reason stands up? Browse the directory for an employment lawyer in Nicosia or Limassol who handles Labour Disputes Court claims, and get advice well inside the 12-month window. Rules and thresholds here reflect the position in September 2026; confirm the current position with a qualified Cyprus advocate before you act.