The Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance said on Wednesday that the special support schemes that were implemented in November will continue in December, following the new restrictive measures decided by the Council of Ministers to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Ministry of Labor notes that the applications for the special support schemes for the period from 1- 31 December 2020 will be posted at  www.coronavirus.mlsi.gov.cy, on a date that will be announced at a later stage.

A prerequisite for the participation of employers is to not to have made and not to make any redundancies for financial or other similar reasons, while the amount of support provided to employees amounts to 60% of their gross earnings, with a maximum monthly amount of €1,214 and a minimum of €360.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Labor notes that for the participation of employers who are not under full suspension of their operation, it is necessary to prove that there is a real reduction in their turnover compared to the corresponding period last year, which exceeds 40%.

The Ministry recalls that the schemes that are already in place concern the Tourism Industry and Businesses / Employees Related to the Tourism Industry, companies and employees who are under full suspension of operations or associated with companies that are under mandatory suspension of operations. It notes that in addition, companies can participate in the above plans  that have  proven to have a reduction in turnover of more than 80% compared to the corresponding period last year, due to the measures taken to address the pandemic and are not in a state of complete suspension of their operations.

The Ministry supports as well companies / employees of certain economic activities that were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, very small enterprises and some categories of self employed.