New regulations on annual leave in the Cyprus public service have entered into force – in some cases with retroactive effect – following recent amendments unanimously approved by the House of Representatives. The changes, detailed in a circular by Elena Oikonomidou‑Azina, Director of the Department of Public Administration and Personnel, affect permanent appointees coming from other state services, indefinite‑term employees, and hourly‑paid staff, and aim to ensure that prior service is recognised when calculating leave entitlements.
What the new rules say
The amended regulations introduce three main categories of protection for employees moving into permanent public service posts:
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Transfers from other state services or public law entities
A person appointed to a permanent post who immediately before that appointment served in a permanent position in another state service (Security Forces, Armed Forces, Public Educational Service) or in a public law entity retains the number of annual leave days they were entitled to under their previous employment status. Their years of service in that previous post are also taken into account for the purposes of leave scaling (i.e. moving up the leave ladder as seniority increases).
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Indefinite‑term employees moving to permanent posts
A person appointed to a permanent post who immediately before that appointment was employed as an indefinite‑term employee in the public service, or under an equivalent status in another state service or public law entity, similarly retains their previous annual leave entitlement. Their years of service under that previous status count towards future leave scaling.
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Hourly‑paid staff appointed to permanent posts
A person appointed to a permanent post who immediately before that appointment worked as hourly‑paid personnel in a public law entity retains their previous number of annual leave days if that number is higher than what they would get under the new regime. This more favourable entitlement is kept until, through their years of service in the new permanent post, they qualify for the next leave scale under the existing hourly government staff rules.
Retroactive application
The circular clarifies different effective dates for these provisions:
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The first two categories (transfers from other state services/public law entities and indefinite‑term employees moving to permanent posts) apply retroactively from 1 January 2018.
For affected employees, this means their accumulated annual leave must be recalculated, crediting them with any additional leave days they would have accrued from that date (or from their actual appointment date to the public service, if later).
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The third category (hourly‑paid staff from public law entities appointed to permanent posts) takes effect from 17 July 2026, the date the amending regulations were published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
What affected employees must do
To implement the new rules, the Department of Public Administration and Personnel requires affected employees to submit a certificate from their previous employer stating:
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The employment status they held immediately before appointment to a permanent public service post
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The annual leave entitlement they had under that status
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Their years of service/employment under that status.
This documentation is necessary so HR can adjust leave records and, where applicable, apply the retroactive credits.
Accumulation limits and personal balances
The circular also notes that, when applying these provisions, an employee’s total annual leave may temporarily exceed the standard maximum accumulation cap. However, once the “personal” excess above the cap starts to be used up, no further accumulation beyond the statutory maximum will be allowed.
Union welcomes the change
The Public Service Trade Union (PASIDY) welcomed the changes, describing the recognition of prior service for annual leave as the correction of a long‑standing injustice and the satisfaction of a longstanding demand for equal treatment. The union highlighted its active role in the consultations and said it will continue to monitor the correct implementation of the new regulations and defend the rights of all public service employees.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
