Cyprus has high levels of sick leave

Cyprus had the highest levels of paid sick leaves in 2015 across the EU, figures published by Eurostat revealed on Friday.

According to the figures, the share of total social benefits spent on paid sick leave was 8.5 per cent in Cyprus, more than double the EU average, which stood at 3.6 per cent.

Cyprus was followed by Germany and the Netherlands, both of which paid 6.1 per cent on paid sick leave benefits as a percentage of total social benefits.

The lowest share of expenditure on paid sick leave was in Greece at 0.7 per cent. Italy, Portugal and Romania were close at 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

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.