A gulf separates employers’ organisations and trade unions on the issue of provident funds and how they should fit into pension reform as a whole, Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said on Thursday.
He was speaking to media after the latest meeting of the labour advisory aboard, which discussed provident funds for the first time.
The minister confirmed that trade unions want provident funds to be prescribed by law so that all private companies offer one, whereas employers insist they should remain voluntary.
In Cyprus, provident funds are based on collective or private agreements between employers and workers. No legislation exists mandating that companies provide a provident fund.
Having heard the two sides’ views on the matter, Mousiouttas said, the government would try to find the ‘sweet spot’.
The next meeting of the labour advisory board is scheduled for Friday, November 9.
The government’s general position, said the minister, is that provident funds “are a necessary institution, which supplements workers’ pensions.
“What we’ll try to do is see how this institution can be expanded.”
Stakeholders also discussed some of the details, such as how provident funds would be cashed out on retirement – whether as a lump sum or in instalments. Another issue is whether it would be possible to borrow from a provident fund, under certain conditions, as is the case today.
However, the minister clarified that sorting out the provident funds question “is not something that will happen today or tomorrow or even next year”.
In order for a provident fund to ‘mature’ and to yield, it takes at least a decade, he added.
Nevertheless, the talks would continue, and once the government brokers an agreement between trade unions and employers, the relevant bill would begin being drafted.
“For sure we will follow European standards,” Mousiouttas said of the future bill.
A provident fund is essentially a private group pension plan that some employers provide for their employees in Cyprus.
Provident fund members invest monthly a fixed percentage of their salary into a common investment pool for their retirement in much the same way as they would with social insurance.
A provident fund is managed by a licensed pension provider. The pension providers are typically either insurance companies or asset management companies.
The operation of a provident fund involves contributions from both the employee and the employer, similar to social insurance contributions. The amounts contributed by each party can either be identical or differ.
The employer usually sets the contribution amount and provides these details in an employment contract.
Employees are generally restricted from accessing their pension funds, before reaching their retirement age or unless their employment is terminated. However, it is permissible for the employee to borrow a portion of their funds.
Meanwhile the main thrust of pension reform – which includes pillars zero and one – is still being worked on by the government.
The draft legislation needs to be vetted by the attorney-general’s office.
Once that is done, said Mousiouttas, he would present the bill to the cabinet. Once the cabinet gives the nod, the bill would be tabled to parliament.
Pillar zero, as it is called, concerns pensions for low-income earners.
Pillar one involves a reworking of the mechanics of the Social Insurance Fund, along with state pensions.
Provident funds and occupational pension schemes fall within pillar two.
The government aims to roll out pillars zero and one of pension reform at the beginning of 2027.
Maccabi Tel Aviv are due to play their EuroLeague home games at the Spyros Kyprianou arena in Limassol, starting with the Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel on November 12.
The move still awaits official confirmation from the club and from the EuroLeague itself, with plans for each game providing for 3,000 tickets for Maccabi supporters, 1,500 for the Cypriot public and 100 for fans of the visiting side; final arrangements for spectators have not been agreed.
Maccabi are still asking the EuroLeague for permission to return to their home ground in Israel. Should Euroleague not yield by January, the game against Panathinaikos on January 7 will also be played in Limassol.
The Cyprus Mail was informed that the EuroLeague was initially against the move to Cyprus due to its sponsorship deal with Turkish Airlines.
According to local media, a Maccabi representative spoke by telephone with one of the deputy police chiefs regarding the team’s presence and the running of the games.
From Monday, a designated police liaison is due to coordinate with the club’s managers at police headquarters level, covering the number of people travelling and their movements.
A video conference with Maccabi officials is planned to settle the details of police cover, and the club is expected to send an official letter within days on fan and team movements.
Maccabi were due to host Real Madrid in Limassol on October 22, but the game was played at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, which the club has used as its home court since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
Maccabi formally asked Cyprus to host the games in a letter to President Nikos Christodoulides on September 22. Between 12 and 15 home games were expected in Limassol, depending on how far the club progressed.
Police unions have warned that the games would need about 500 officers and called them a “huge additional responsibility” for a force already short of staff.
A police source put the policing cost of all the games at more than €1 million.
Justice Minister Costas Fitiris told MPs on Monday that Cyprus had accepted a request to invoice Maccabi for the policing, although no game had yet been played on the island.
Cerca de 3,2 milhões de portugueses sofrem de dores lombares. Embora a maioria dos episódios não esteja associada a uma doença grave, a TrueClinic alerta para os sinais que justificam avaliação clínica e aqueles que não devem ser ignorados. Porto, 29 de outubro de 2026: A dor lombar é uma das queixas de saúde mais […]
The overall picture regarding the provision of meals to conscripts serving in the National Guard is satisfactory, members of the House audit committee said on Thursday during a discussion of the Audit Office’s special report on the matter.
Presenting the report’s findings, Audit Office director Akis Kikas said that €10 million is allocated annually to feeding National Guard conscripts, describing the meals as satisfactory in terms of quantity and quality, as well as efforts to avoid waste.
“The Audit Office’s assessment is that the food is very satisfactory,” he said.
The audit included unannounced inspections and meal tastings at catering facilities and military kitchens, alongside a questionnaire distributed to 1,100 randomly selected conscripts across Cyprus.
Christina Stefanou, representing the treasury’s public procurement directorate, said catering was introduced on a pilot basis in Larnaca in 2018 and Nicosia in 2019, following a defence ministry tender.
Military kitchens purchase ingredients through a treasury framework agreement, with spending on raw materials amounting to €3.3 million.
Deputy defence ministry permanent secretary Stelios Kountouris described the overall findings as positive, saying several improvements had already been implemented or were underway.
He said an electronic ordering system had been introduced to reduce waste, with encouraging results, while individual dietary requirements were being taken into consideration.
Kountouris also confirmed that the recruitment of professional cooks was underway and had reached the evaluation stage.
A health ministry representative said menus had been prepared in cooperation with clinical dietitians.
National Guard inspector-general Andreas Charalambous welcomed the findings, describing the Audit Office’s observations as manageable and saying implementation of its recommendations had begun.
On food safety, Kountouris said laboratory inspections were conducted by the State General Laboratory and Veterinary Services, while ingredients were checked upon delivery and unsuitable products could be returned.
Concerns were also raised over catering contracts, which run for two years with an option to renew for another two, with suggestions that more frequent tenders could better reflect fluctuations in food prices.
The frequency of meat consumption was also questioned, with calls for dietitians to review whether serving meat up to nine times a week was nutritionally appropriate.
Committee chairman Zacharias Koulias said some minor difficulties had been identified but appeared likely to be resolved.
“I believe we are at a good level despite the findings of the report,” he said, adding that the National Guard was making a considerable effort to ensure soldiers were properly fed.
He also questioned the frequency of meat consumption.
Committee member Nikos Kettiros said considerable improvements had been made in recent years, but further examination was needed into the amount of food discarded daily and why soldiers were not eating it.
“If so much money is being spent, so many quality checks are being carried out, and some soldiers still continue to choose food from outside, this is something we need to address, not to punish the young people serving their country, but to find out why they are not eating the food,” he said.
He also called for the deployment of professional cooks to be reviewed, noting that some military kitchens operated without qualified staff while four professional cooks were assigned to officers’ clubs.
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O empreendimento, que conta com 113 unidades de alojamento, tinha abertura inicialmente prevista para junho deste ano, mas um incêndio ocorrido em março obrigou ao adiamento da inauguração.
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Akel will not support bills to bring nurses in from outside the EU unless private hospitals sign collective agreements with their staff, MP Marina Nikolaou told the House health committee on Thursday.
“Since you refuse to implement collective agreements, which could keep wages within certain safe limits, then from us it is ‘no’,” she said.
Nikolaou said her party would reject any government amendment that harmed nurses’ rights or pay.
Committee chairwoman and Disy MP Savia Orphanidou likewise told private hospitals the committee could not see “how we will be able to reconcile the opinions”.
“I do not see how it can proceed without collective agreements, for me this is the red line,” she said.
Disy MP George Pamboridis said hospitals would not find the staff they wanted unless they paid to bring back about 1,300 nurses who have left the profession.
“Collective agreements cannot be imposed by anyone, other than the market, which is shouting at you that you are not paying enough,” he said.
He supported the tougher language requirement and said he disliked “double standards” given what is asked of doctors.
Diko MP Andreas Apostolou said the law cannot force anyone to sign an agreement.
Two bills are before the committee; one raises the standard of Greek required of nurses and midwives, while the other removes a provision that conflicts with other legislation and has blocked nurses and midwives from third countries from applying to join the professional register.
The health ministry wants the Greek requirement raised by two levels, to B1, while the private hospitals’ association (Pasin) wants a rise of one level, to A2, with a review after four years rather than two, citing the difficulty of attaining fluency in Greek.
Its president, Marios Karaiskakis, said a provision for English could also be considered.
He opposed the rule limiting foreign nurses to 10 per cent of a hospital’s nursing staff, calling it a “free gift” given the scale of the shortages.
A representative of the employers’ federation (Oev) proposed that nurses start at A1 and sit A2 exams within two years.
He said private hospitals cannot work at full capacity without more nurses.
“If there were Cypriot nurses available, we would be the first to want them,” he said.
He put the average weighted salary of a nurse in Cyprus at €3,000 a month and rejected claims of poor conditions.
The government plan would permit hospitals to employ some 150 nurses from third countries on two-year licences, which the health ministry has called a “temporary solution”.
Nurses would normally require two years of prior experience and could not work as shift managers.
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A redução foi impulsionada pelas deslocações em território nacional, que recuaram 3,8%, enquanto as viagens ao estrangeiro aumentaram 10%, segundo os dados divulgados pelo INE.
O quinto episódio de “Vidas no Turismo”, a rubrica do TNews desenvolvida em parceria com a Nova Turismo e Hospitalidade, já está disponível. Nesta edição, a protagonista é Anabela Fonseca, fundadora e diretora da ClickViaja – Lisboa Expo & Benavente, que partilha o seu percurso profissional, os desafios de gerir uma agência de viagens e aquilo que continua a apaixoná-la pelo setor, 16 anos depois.
O The Yeatman anunciou esta quinta-feira a nomeação de Manuel Santos como novo diretor-geral. Com um percurso internacional em marcas de hotelaria de luxo, o profissional regressa à região do Porto para liderar o hotel de cinco estrelas em Vila Nova de Gaia, com uma estratégia centrada na personalização do serviço, na valorização da identidade local e no reforço das experiências vínicas e gastronómicas.
A Vila Galé inaugurou oficialmente, esta terça-feira, 27 de outubro, o Vila Galé Collection Ópera São Luís, a primeira unidade do grupo português no estado do Maranhão, no Brasil.
Faro e Porto lideram a rapidez nas transações no terceiro trimestre de 2026, com parte expressiva do stock a encontrar comprador em menos de uma semana. Uma em cada cinco casas anunciadas por mais de um milhão de euros em Portugal foi vendida em menos de um mês durante o terceiro trimestre de 2026. Os […]
Amazon launched a new range of Alexa-powered devices on Wednesday. The company has introduced upgrades across its Echo speakers, smart displays, and home accessories. Its latest lineup includes a new...
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