Sigma staff threaten legal action over 13th salaries

Employees at Sigma TV have threatened to take legal action against the channel owners after they were informed they would not receive a 13th salary this year.

In a statement, trade unions SEK and PEO said the decision was taken during  Sigma TV staff’s general assembly.

“It was decided that the personnel would take legal measures, after having asked the labour ministry to take all the necessary measures, so that the employer can be prosecuted and a 13th salary paid as well as any other punishment which needs to be handed out,” the unions said.

SEK and PEO added that although it had been made clear to the employer by the labour ministry’s mediation service that any unilateral decision not to pay the 13th salary would result in a caution, they went ahead with it anyway.

Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said earlier this month that any employer who refuses to pay the 13th salary was committing a criminal offence and could be taken to court.

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.