Labour Minister Kyriacos Koushos, who held joint and separate consultations with trade unions and employers’ organisations throughout the day, said he hoped to be able to propose solutions to President Nicos Anastasiades and the Council of Ministers before the end of August.

Koushos praised the “serious and responsible” approach of both the trade unions and employers.

“I will continue separate contacts with the two sides next week and I hope that before the end of August, which is the deadline that the president of the republic has given me to complete my contacts, I will be in a position to propose some solutions on the issue to the president and the council of ministers,” he said.

He thanked social partners and said he looked forward to continuing their cooperation so that the talks will end in success.

Koushos said the final proposal on the minimum wage would be submitted to the president and cabinet for approval, after which a decree will be issued signed by the labour minister.

He would not be drawn on whether substantial differences remained between social partners saying he did not want to give an answer which could be misconstrued.

“I have to say there are different approaches on specific issues, efforts are underway for consensus, and we will continue the dialogue,” he said.

Media reports suggest there is disagreement about the implementation process, with employers reportedly asking for certain exceptions.

Other obstacles are the level of the minimum wage but also its calculation.

Unions and employers’ organisations disagree over the method of determining a median salary, on which the minimum salary would be based.

The median wage calculated by the Cyprus Statistical Service is lower than the one calculated by EU-SILC cross-sectional and longitudinal sample survey, which the unions want the minimum wage to be based on. Employers’ organisations want the former.

Anastasiades has recently clarified the minimum wage will be based on the statistical service’s calculations, which set the median wage at €1,573 with the percentage ranging from 50 to 60% of the median wage.

Source: Cyprus Mail