The Department of Labour is implementing a series of sponsorship schemes for the integration of the unemployed and vulnerable groups of the population into the labour market, providing incentives to employers through the subsidy of part of the wage cost. The projects are co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus and the Republic of Cyprus, under the Cohesion Policy Programme "THALIA 2021-2027".
The details of the plans were presented by the Labour officers Maria Kyriakou and Anna-Maria Angeli. The programs are divided into two categories: those for which applications are submitted outside the online platform and those for which are processed through the Grant Plan Management Platform.
In addition to the electronic platform, the Incentive Scheme for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the Incentive Scheme for the Employment Rehabilitation of Released Prisoners operate.
Through the electronic platform, the plans for the recruitment of young people aged 15 to 29 who are not in employment, education or training, unemployed over 50 years of age, inactive women with flexible employment arrangements and unemployed women operate through the electronic platform.
Employment of people with disabilities
The target group of the Scheme for the Provision of Incentives for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities are unemployed persons with disabilities, who are registered with the Public Employment Service before the date of recruitment. The period of unemployment must be valid up to one day before recruitment.
The goal is to employ 100 people with disabilities, as well as another 28 through savings. The budget amounts to €2 million. and both full-time and part-time employment are allowed.
The sponsorship is estimated at €52 per accrued day, with a maximum amount of €22,360 for each entry. The grant period is 24 months.
A person with a disability, according to the ratifying Law 8(III) of 2011, means a person with long-term physical, mental, mental or sensory impairments, the interaction of which with behavioural and environmental barriers may prevent their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.
Labour rehabilitation of released prisoners
The scheme for the labour rehabilitation of released prisoners is aimed at people who have been released from the Central Prisons of the Republic of Cyprus and are registered as normal unemployed with the Public Employment Service before their recruitment. The period of unemployment must be valid up to one day before the date of recruitment.
The goal is to employ 200 released prisoners, with a total budget of €4 million. The possibility of full-time or part-time employment is provided.
The unit cost of the grant is €48 per accrued day and the maximum amount of the subsidy is €20,640 for each participation. The duration of the grant is 24 months.
Scheme for young people aged 15 to 29
The Youth Employment Incentive Scheme is for persons aged between 15 and 29 – up to 29 years and 364 days on the date of recruitment – who are not in employment, education or training.
Candidates must be registered as unemployed with the Public Employment Service. Their period of unemployment must be valid up to one day before or on the date of recruitment.
The project has a budget of €6 million. and aims to employ 700 young people with flexible employment arrangements.
Unemployed over 50 years old
The scheme for the recruitment of unemployed people over the age of 50 is aimed at persons who, on the date of recruitment, have reached the age of 50 and are registered with the Public Employment Service.
The period of unemployment must be valid up to one day before or on the date of recruitment. The goal is to recruit 470 unemployed people in full-time positions, with a total budget of €4 million.
Inactive women
The Scheme for the Provision of Incentives for the Recruitment of Inactive Women concerns women who are not employed, self-employed or registered with the Public Employment Service and have not been looking for work in the previous 28 days.
For the purposes of the scheme, the period of 28 days is determined on the basis of the active registration of the interested party as unemployed in the Public Employment Service after the announcement of the scheme, i.e. from 5 September 2025 onwards.
The plan aims to recruit 470 inactive women, with flexible employment arrangements, and has a budget of €4 million.
Recruitment of unemployed women
A separate scheme concerns unemployed women who, on the date of recruitment, are registered with the Public Employment Service. The period of unemployment must be valid up to one day before or on the date of recruitment.
The aim of the project is to recruit 815 unemployed women in full-time positions. The total budget amounts to €7 million.
Flexible forms of employment
Eligible flexible forms of employment include teleworking, in which the employee performs his duties exclusively from his home or from another place of his choice, using modern information and communication technologies.
Alternating or mixed teleworking, which combines teleworking with the regular presence of the employee on the premises of the company, is also included.
In flexible or flexible hours, the employee decides the time of arrival and departure, within the framework set by the employer and provided that a basic core of working hours is covered.
Individual working time accounts allow the total recording of working time on a monthly basis and its distribution according to the needs of the company or the wishes of the employee. In this way, periods of intensive work can be alternated with periods of leave or part-time work, without a fluctuation in wages.
In the compressed workweek, the employee can cover all of his weekly working hours in fewer days. Part-time work is also eligible, with reduced working hours compared to the working hours of full-time employees in the same or a similar field.
Job sharing, known as "job sharing", is also foreseen, in which two people share, at their request, the duties, rights, working hours and remuneration of a position.
The steps before applying
Before submitting an application through the online platform, the unemployed person must register with the Public Employment Service through the PES/CPS platform. A validated CY Login account is also required, which must be linked to CPSWeb.
The employer must register the job vacancy through the platform of the Public Employment Service. The position must be validated by an officer of the Labour Office, who then proceeds to match it with the unemployed.
Below is the CPS R215 employer referral and decision form. The recruitment is declared to the Social Insurance Services through the ERGANI system, while the date of recruitment must be consistent with the one indicated in CPS R215. A basic condition is that the recruitment precedes the submission of the application.
The supporting documents
When submitting the application, a declaration of beneficial ownership, known as a UBO, and a declaration of a single enterprise are required. The employee's personal information, such as an identity card, Pink Slip, Yellow Slip or alien registration number – ARC, as well as proof of eligibility, where required, are also submitted.
If the employer is self-employed, they must submit a copy of their identity card. The application is registered via subsidy-schemes.dl.mlsi.gov.cy e-mail address.
In addition, certificates of settlement or settlement of debts to the Social Insurance Services and the Tax Department are necessary. For Social Insurance, the form YKA B-7 or YKA 2-022 is used, while for the Tax Department the form TF 2004A is required.
Sponsorship up to €8,600 through the platform
For projects operating through the online platform, the grant amounts to €48 per accrued day, with a maximum amount of €8,600 for each participation.
The duration of the grant is ten months. After the completion of this period, the employer is obliged to keep the employee in his position for a further two months.
Which employers can participate
Employers established in the Republic of Cyprus, who have not reduced their staff in the same profession, have the right to join. Each employer can be subsidized for up to five people per call.
It is not allowed to re-subsidize the same employer for the same person during the same programming period.
The recruitment of shareholders or directors of the company, spouses or relatives of the first and second degree, as well as people who have worked for the same employer in the previous eight months, is not subsidized.
The Payment Process
Upon receipt of the letter of approval and inclusion in the scheme, the beneficiary must complete an authorisation for payments through the FIMAS system.
If the authorization bears a handwritten signature, it must be sent by post or hand-delivered to the General Accounting Office of the Republic, 1441 Nicosia.
Employers can then submit the request for the payment of the grant electronically every four months.
The obligations of the beneficiaries
Beneficiaries are required to keep a record for five years and comply with all the legislation of the Republic of Cyprus, in particular the Minimum Wage Ordinance.
They must also apply the publicity requirements of the design, including the posting of posters and the use of European Union logos. At the same time, they must cooperate with the competent services in case of on-the-spot checks.
