Question:
I live in Cyprus, got citizenship in November and joined a job at the shop. The official contract
was not signed by me, but there was an agreement with the director that in a month I would be
registered with Social Security. In January I had cut wages, and I quit. Now I cannot get the
money owed to me for six weeks. What shall I do? I am not sure that my data was transferred to
social insurance.
Response:
You should contact the office of the Social Insurance Fund of your district to find out whether
you had been registered by the former employees’ in social insurance and if you are eligible for
benefits. According to the original of your passport a responsible officer will provide you with
all necessary information.
The size of the salary is an essential condition of the employment agreement. When an employer
reduces the employee’s salary, initially previously agreed, the right step in this case – to leave
(which you did). The second step would be a lawsuit on the grounds that the employer forced the
employee to resign because of breach of contract. As you were hired for a short period of time
(from November till January), according to the Law, with employment up to 26 weeks, the
employer is not required to provide any notice to the employee about his / her dismissal, as well
as the employee shall not notify the employer of quitting the job. Depending on the length of
employment, the employee has different rights and obligations.
With respect to a written contract of employment, which, as you pointed out, was not signed by
you during your short-term employment, it is allowed to announce the creation of employment
contracts by oral agreement, based on the implied or specified conditions and according to the
mutual trust between you and employer. If the employer has violated the agreement and has not
registered you in the Social Insurance Fund, the only way for you to figure it out and present
your demands to him. But in your case because of short-term employment you have no right to
claim damages. But you can file a complaint to the Social Insurance Fund. Most likely, your
complaint to the employer will be fined by the Social Insurance Fund.