What are the payments?

UNEMPLOYMENT benefit is earnings-related and is made up of a basic benefit and a supplementary amount. The “basic benefit” corresponds to 60 per cent of the “basic insurable earnings” of the previous year on which contributions have been paid, and is determined by law each year. The maximum duration of the unemployment benefit is 156 days.

The “supplementary amount” corresponds to 50 per cent of earnings above the basic in the previous year on which contributions have been paid. The supplementary benefit cannot in any case exceed the basic earnings of the beneficiary which have been received in the previous year.

After the six-month entitlement has been exhausted, the social welfare system provides a further safety net, which is the responsibility of the Labour Ministry’s Department of Social Welfare Services. This safety net can be in the form of money and/or services to people whose resources do not meet their basic and special needs as determined by law.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.