Background information

Teleworking arrangements and/or work from home arrangements are among the measures taken by the Republic of Cyprus to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The provision has been issued with the Decree 101 of the Quarantine Law, Chapter 260 of the Minister of Health. It addresses employees in the public and the broader public sector and employees in the Educational Service of Cyprus. The provision authorises Ministers and Deputy Ministers as well as the Heads of Independent authorities/ bureaus / offices to define the needs of their departments and schedule their activities accordingly.

On Wednesday 8 April, the President of the Republic announced the decision of the Cabinet to extent all the measures taken by the Decrees of the Minister of Health up until 30 April 2020. The Minister of Health undertakes, currently, a legal and technical processing of these measures.

Content of measure

The services of the public and broader public sector operate for this period of time with minimum personnel and for emergency issues only. All other personnel, and where possible, works from home. Essential services of the Republic, i.e. hospitals and the arm forces, are excluded from the regulation. The Minister of Education, in addition, is authorised to issue an educational programme for the period that the operation of public schools is suspended and make use of technologies to cover part of the school curricula. The regulation also provides that public servants, not in appointed service or in tele working, are obligated to provide services in other domains if needed.

Use of measure

The number of employees in the public and broader public sector (excluding the numbers of workers in hospitals, police and arm forces) addressed by the Decree is around 55,000.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment Other groups of workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Social partners jointly Trade unions Public employment service	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• N/A
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

N/A

Views and reactions

The government has consulted the social partners - trade unions, employers' organizations and political parties - and the outcome emerged is on an agreed base.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 15 March 2020: Decree 101 of the Quarantine Law, Chapter 260 (www.pio.gov.cy)