New regulations for foreign workers

From Cyprus Mail

New regulations for foreign workers
By Marianna Pissa


HOUSEMAIDS caring for the sick and elderly will be able to extend their residence permits under a series of new employment regulations for foreign workers announced by the government.

The Ministerial Committee comprising the Ministers of Interior, Labour, Justice and Commerce, the Attorney General and other officials, announced the new measures in a meeting on Thursday.

The Committee also decided that foreign housemaids and employment agencies will have to contribute to the payment of the guarantee required for foreign workers. Until now this has been paid by the employer.

Interior Minister, Neoclis Silikiotis, said that this way all the parties involved and not just the employer will have to answer to the authorities should any problems occur during employment.

Silikiotis also said that the Committee discussed the status of long term residents on the island, such as housemaids. A Supreme Court decision had originally said that maids from third countries who have completed five years of continuous stay in Cyprus cannot assume the status of long-term resident because when they arrived, they initially came to work for four years.

However, under the new regulations housemaids who work for the elderly or as care takers for patients will now be eligible to renew their residence permit after this time.

The Committee also discussed the issues of visas for artistes in an effort to limit human trafficking and extending the work permits of political asylum seekers. Restrictions on the employment of foreign workers from Georgia and Egypt in the agriculture sector were also lifted.

“Up until now we had restrictions only on people coming from Georgia and Egypt. Today we have decided that we will extend this list and accept from any country. We have lifted this restriction because several farmers and rural organisations have difficulties finding employees from third countries,” Silikiotis said.