It is highly unlikely that the proposed Single Labour Inspection Service bill which is going before the House plenum for approval on Friday will get the green light, Phileleftheros reports.
And this because of a letter sent by Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou who is asking for the vote’s postponement, along with provisions of the bill which have divided parliamentary parties.
The Single Service will act as an umbrella for 28 laws related to labour ministry checks.
Following centre Diko’s crucial amendments, and the weakening of administrative fines to be imposed on employers violating provisions of the bill, the Labour Minister has sent a letter to House President Speaker Demetris Syllouris.
He told MPs that the Minister requested the postponement of the vote until talks with all parliamentary parties are concluded. Opposition Akel and the Green party strongly disagree with the proposed postponement.
It has been decided that the bill will be before Friday’s plenary and that everything should be clarified during the debate. This means that the bill’s outcome is up in the air since nine of the total 56 MPs, will be absent from parliament because they are on overseas missions and this, essentially, weakens alliances.
If and when the bill is approved, it will come in effect five months later so that employers will have the opportunity to comply with all provisions of the legislation.
It took ministry technocrats and organisations representing employers such as OEB and KEVE months to reach agreement on the administrative fines which are now set to divided into two categories.
Under the first category, administrative fines of €500 will be imposed when employers violate laws on the protection of maternity, parental leave, part-time employees, work conditions of employees in recreation centers and shops, equal pay for men and women.
The administrative fine of €500 will be imposed for each employee whose work collective agreement is violated.
In the second category, the amount of administrative fine is reduced to €250 for each employee whose employer violates the terms of the collective agreement and employment relations, as well as conditions of employment of hotel employees and their salaries.
In fact, if an employer illegally repeats the same infringement then the fine is increased to €500 per employee.
At the same time, the total administrative fine during inspection is reduced to €5,000 except in the case where infringement is repeated and therefore the fine increases to €10,000.
In addition, where the payment of the administrative fine is delayed, then it will be increased to €50 per delayed day. The additional increase should not double the amount of the administrative fine imposed.
Read more:
https://in-cyprus.com/employers-cautious-over-set-up-of-a-single-inspection-service/
