New clarifications on parental leave in Cyprus have been issued by the Director of the Department of Public Administration and Personnel following earlier circulars on the implementation of parental leave provisions.
According to the guidance, parental leave is considered a period of unpaid absence and is not interrupted by weekends or public holidays when an employee does not return to work on the next working day.
How is leave calculated?
The circular provides examples for employees working a five-day week.
If an employee takes parental leave for four consecutive working days, from Thursday until the following Tuesday, the absence is considered a continuous period that includes the intervening weekend. However, only the four working days are deducted from the employee’s parental leave entitlement.
Similarly, when parental leave covers two consecutive working weeks, from Monday until Friday of the following week, the unpaid absence is treated as a single continuous period that includes the weekend between the two weeks.
In this case, the parental leave charge applies only to the ten working days taken by the employee.
Benefit covers Saturdays and holidays
The circular also clarifies the payment of the parental leave allowance provided by the Social Insurance Services.
According to the guidance, the benefit covers Saturdays as well as public holidays that do not fall on a Sunday.
The new clarifications aim to ensure the consistent application of parental leave provisions in Cyprus across the public sector and provide clearer guidance for employees and departments when calculating periods of absence and related benefits.
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