Opposition Akel on Monday slammed the government over its recent revision of the national minimum wage, calling it woefully inadequate.
Under a decree issued by the labour minister last week, the minimum wage on hiring will rise from €900 to €979, and from €1,000 to €1,088 after six months of continuous employment.
The changes, expected to affect around 50,000 workers, will apply from January.
The calculation also incorporates the cost-of-living allowance (CoLA) at a rate of approximately two per cent.
But in a statement, Akel called on the government to reconsider.
“The hiring gross salary of €979, and the salary of €1,088 after six months are not sufficient to cover basic needs such as housing, electricity, food and fuel in the Cyprus of 2026.”
According to Akel’s Giorgos Koukoumas, the government’s decision is “doubly problematic”.
On the one hand, the minimum wage remains lower than the indicative threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage.
Earlier, trade unions had likewise complained that the new minimum wage has actually dropped from 58.5 per cent of the median wage in 2023, to now 57.8 per cent.
According to the Statistical Service, median gross monthly earnings in Cyprus for 2024 were €1,881, which means half of all employees earned less and half earned more.
The data, published in October this year, is the most recent.
The EU Minimum Wage Directive recommends, but does not mandate, that member-states use 60 per cent of the gross median wage as an indicative reference value when assessing the adequacy of their national statutory minimum wages.
And on the other hand, said Akel, the administration broke its promise to set an hourly rate for the minimum wage.
“This means that people receiving the minimum wage will include those working for 38 hours [a week], as well as those working 42 hours or even 48 hours.
“In practice, it allows employers to force employees to work more hours without overtime pay.”
It added: “Is this the support to low-income earners professed by the Christodoulides government? Is this how income inequalities are addressed?”
At the same time, the opposition party noted, the administration “is provoking” by granting tens of millions of euro in tax relief to big business.
Akel was alluding to the recently enacted overhaul of the tax system.
The party urged the government to “realise that economic growth is based on the labour of the people, who are entitled to a substantive improvement in wages and living standards”.
