Bills regulating undeclared work due to be voted next month

Three bills aimed at tackling undeclared work are expected to head to plenum in the first half of October, chairman of the House labour committee Andreas Kafkalias said on Tuesday.

Discussions over the bills are expected to wrap next week, he added.

Speaking after a meeting of the committee, Kafkalias told reporters that in 2023 there were 1,095 undeclared workers. The number of illegal workers was at 649.

“Every legal and political step aimed at tackling undeclared work is seen positively,” the committee chair and Akel MP said.

Tougher fines and an electronic system documenting all employees will go a long way in tackling this phenomenon, he added.

At the same time, the government needs to systematically carry out inspections because it is the implementation that matters, Kafkalias said.

Asked if there are sufficient staff to meet the needs for more intensive inspections, he said that the issue of organisation, staffing and effective implementation of legislation must be taken into account so that the state can respond to all of its required demands.

Kafkalias also added that where construction workers are concerned, the answer of whether the contractor or the subcontractor is classified as an employer has been discussed, and the government will revert with a bill aimed at regulating the matter.

Currently, legislation imposes administrative fines of €500 per month with a maximum of six months.

The bill also provides for an out-of-court fine of €1,000, as well as an obligation for the employer to pay contributions for the months the employee was not covered, according to the committee chair.

According to Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou, undeclared work in Cyprus has increased to 13 per cent in the last year, up from eight per cent the previous year.

Of this, 25 per cent of undeclared work is in the construction sector.