Domestic workers in Cyprus: salary, days off, holidays and permits (2026)

Domestic worker salary in Cyprus in 2026

The minimum is €460 gross a month, whatever the worker's nationality. It has applied since 1 July 2013, when it was cut from €484 and the yearly cost-of-living increase was stopped. The Migration Department's policy, updated in December 2025, still gives €460, and we found no announced increase as of October 2026. An employer can always pay more.

The national minimum wage (€979 gross a month for new full-time employees from 1 January 2026, €1,088 after six months) does not apply. The Labour Inspectorate lists domestic helpers as exempt.

• The worker also pays half the cost of health insurance, monthly or in one payment, as agreed.
• Salary is paid at the end of each month into a euro bank account in the worker's own name, which the employer opens.
• The employer cannot deduct permit fees, flights to Cyprus or home, or agency fees.

Working hours, day off and leave

The standard contract sets six working days a week and seven hours a day: 42 hours a week and one day off. Hours can be by day or night, as the employer needs, and the employer must keep a record of them.

Public holidays for domestic workers in 2026

The contract gives nine paid public holidays. Orthodox Easter Sunday is on 12 April 2026, so Easter Saturday is 11 April and Easter Monday 13 April.

Other Cyprus holidays, such as Green Monday, 25 March, 1 April, Good Friday, Kataklysmos and 28 October, are not in the contract. An employer can give them as extra paid days off; put it in writing.

Who can employ a domestic worker from outside the EU

The employer must meet a minimum gross annual income for the whole family.

• Exempt from the income test: people certified by the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, and recipients of the Guaranteed Minimum Income, the Low Pensioners' Allowance or an incapacity or invalidity pension.
• One worker is the normal limit. Bedridden or seriously overweight employers can have two. Three are allowed for some certified serious disabilities and for households earning at least €100,000.
• A male worker is allowed only if the employer has serious mobility problems, with a specialist's certificate.
• The worker needs basic Greek or English.
• Nationals of Myanmar and Ethiopia cannot enter Cyprus for domestic work.

How to apply for a domestic worker permit

1. 1

   Register as an employer

   Apply to the Register of Employers at your district Social Insurance office (form YKA 01-001). The contract asks for your employer number.

2. 2

   Prepare the documents

   Form MDW3 and the signed contract with two copies. From the worker: a passport valid six months beyond the permit, medical tests under four months old, a clean criminal record under six months old, and proof of Greek or English. From you: ID cards, proof of income or a tax certificate, children's birth certificates if relevant, and a declaration that you will pay for the worker's return home.

3. 3

   Submit the application

   You or an authorised representative submit it at the Migration Department in Nicosia, or at the Police Aliens and Immigration Unit in other districts. Foreign documents need an apostille and, if not in Greek or English, an official translation.

4. 4

   The worker arrives and registers

   Within seven days, the worker registers and gives fingerprints and a photo, and repeats the medical tests in Cyprus at your cost. You add health insurance and employer's liability insurance.

5. 5

   Get the decision and renew on time

   The decision should come within four months, longer if documents are missing. A permit lasts up to three years. With the same employer, you can renew online 60 to 30 days before expiry with a verified CY Login account.

There is no maximum total stay for domestic workers. Contracts signed from 1 January 2026 no longer need stamp duty. The Migration Department charges fees for the entry permit, registration and residence permit; check current amounts when you apply. These costs are the employer's.

What an employer pays and provides

Every month you pay your share and the worker's share to Social Insurance, by the end of the following month.

At the minimum, salary plus your contributions come to €530.84 a month. You also provide:

• A private room in your home, in an outbuilding or in a rented building, which you declare suitable on the application form.
• Food, if the worker lives in.
• Employer's liability insurance, and health insurance covering medical care and repatriation of the body in case of death. Instead, the worker can join GESY, with private cover for repatriation.
• Travel to Cyprus and home at the end of the contract, permit fees and medical tests, none of which can come out of the salary.

Changing employer: the release paper

The permit is for one employer, and the contract forbids working for anyone else at the same time. To move to a new employer, the worker usually needs a release paper (release agreement).

• Worker and employer sign the release together, in front of witnesses. The form is on the Migration Department website.
• The release gives the worker one month to find a new employer, and the worker can stay in the house during that month unless both agree otherwise.
• The new employer applies with the original release, sealed by the Migration Department and no more than 30 days old, plus the worker's Social Insurance statement.
• A worker can change employer twice (three employers in total), unless the new employer is a relative up to the second degree or over 75.

These moves do not count as a change: the employer's death, move to a nursing home or emigration, a criminal offence by the employer against the worker, or a Department of Labour Relations decision in the worker's favour. The worker then uses that document instead of a release.

Ending the contract and making a complaint

The contract can end by agreement with a release, with one month's notice from either side, without notice where the Termination of Employment Law allows it, after more than a month of sick leave, or through a labour dispute. During notice, the employer must help the worker look for a job, and must tell the Migration Department as soon as the job ends.

In a dispute, either side complains in writing to the Police Aliens and Immigration Unit in their district and to the Department of Labour Relations, whose Labour Disputes Committee examines the case. Criminal matters go to the local police station.

Using a licensed employment agency

You can apply yourself. If you pay someone to find a worker or handle the permit, they need a licence from the Department of Labour.

• The Department of Labour publishes a list of licensed agencies on its website. Agency adverts and websites must show the licence number.
• An agency cannot charge the worker any fee or collect the worker's salary.
• We found no official cap on what an agency charges the employer, so get the fee and what it covers in writing.
• Breaking the law can mean up to one year in prison, a fine of up to €10,000, or both. The Department can also fine an agency up to €2,500 or suspend it.

Live-in domestic worker or an hourly cleaner?

A live-in worker suits households that need help every day, such as care for an elderly parent or young children. If you mainly need the house cleaned, an independent cleaner who comes for a few hours a week costs less and needs no permit, room or contract. The cleaner is self-employed and pays their own social insurance.

A four-hour visit every week at €12 an hour comes to about €208 a month. Browse house cleaners in Nicosia, cleaners in Limassol, Larnaca or Paphos, or the whole directory of independent cleaners. See what regular house cleaning and a one-off deep clean include, and how hourly rates compare in the guide to cleaner costs in Cyprus.