The need to establish a minimum wage and legally register internship positions to limit the exploitation of youth in the workplace were stressed by Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou on Tuesday.
“The bill will be ready before the end of the term of the current Parliament,” he said.
Following consultations with youth organisations and committees, the bill will establish a minimum wage for internships with the aim of ease young people’s integration into the workforce and to ensure their social insurance contributions.
“Although youth unemployment has decreased significantly, further improvement is required, especially when internships are being used as pretext a for unpaid labour or pay below the minimum wage,” Panayiotou said.
The ministry said setting a minimum wage will be challenging as if it is high it may limit position availability, however “the appropriate balance will be found,” it said.
If the bill is passed, the Cyprus human resources development authority (Anad) will design and implement relevant programmes, without minimum wage being a perquisite.
