This is the single most misunderstood point about hospitality pay in Cyprus. The widely quoted national minimum wage figures do not govern hotel employment. Hotel work has its own minimum wage order, set by professional category against a defined working week.
The national minimum wage, and who it leaves out
From 1 January 2026 the Cyprus national minimum wage is €979 gross per month on recruitment, rising to €1,088 gross per month once an employee completes six months of continuous employment with the same employer. The decree runs to the end of 2027.
Those figures are the ones you will see quoted in almost every news article and salary guide. They are correct — but the decree does not apply to everyone. Hotel industry employees are excluded, as are domestic workers, agricultural and farming workers, shipping and maritime workers, and people on recognised training or internship arrangements.
So if you are employed in a hotel in Cyprus, the €1,088 figure is not automatically your legal floor. A different instrument governs your pay.
The separate hotel industry order
Pay in the hotel sector is set by a Minimum Wage Order for the Hotel Industry, issued by the Council of Ministers and administered by the Department of Labour Relations. Unlike the national minimum wage, which is a single figure, the hotel order sets a separate minimum for each of 19 professional categories — porters, assistant receptionists, maids, cleaners, trainee pastry chefs, grooms and others.
The rates are expressed against a defined working week: 38 hours across five days. That matters when you compare offers, because a monthly figure attached to a longer week is not the same deal.
The order is periodically renegotiated between hoteliers and trade unions and then given legal force. Minimum wages across the 19 categories rose by 3.54% with retroactive effect from 1 January 2025, following a 7.12% rise from June 2023 — increases of 10.66% over that two-year period.
Do not trust an old rate sheet, including ours
We deliberately do not reprint per-category euro figures here. Published hotel rates go stale quickly, and several widely shared salary pages still circulate figures from the 2020 order as though they were current. At the time of review, the Department of Labour Relations’ own English-language page on hotel minimum wages still linked to Order No. 6/2020, even though the rates have been increased twice since.
A stale number is worse than no number, because it makes an underpayment look lawful. Get the figure for your own category from the current order, or ask the Department of Labour Relations directly.
The Department of Labour Relations can be reached at 54 Griva Digeni Avenue, 1096 Nicosia, on +357 22 803100, or at info@dlr.mlsi.gov.cy. Asking them what the current minimum is for your job title is free and takes one email.
- ✓Ask which professional category your job title falls under — the category, not the title, sets the minimum
- ✓Confirm the weekly hours the rate assumes, and what happens beyond them
- ✓Check whether a collective or personal agreement gives you better terms than the order
- ✓Keep your written offer, contract and payslips — they are the evidence if pay is queried later
Before you accept a hotel offer
- ✓Confirmed whether the national minimum wage or the hotel order applies
- ✓Identified your professional category under the hotel order
- ✓Got the current minimum for that category from a live source
- ✓Checked the weekly hours the rate is based on
- ✓Compared the offer against the minimum, not against another offer
- ✓Kept the written terms you were given
Sources
The information on this page applies to Cyprus. Every claim about pay, permits, tax or worker rights is based on the sources below.
- Remuneration / Minimum Wage — scope of the national minimum wage decree
Department of Labour Relations, Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance (Cyprus) · checked 6 August 2026
- Minimum Wages in Hotels — the separate hotel industry order
Department of Labour Relations, Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance (Cyprus) · checked 6 August 2026
- Cabinet raises minimum wages in hotel industry — 3.54% from 1 January 2025, 19 professions
Cyprus Mail, 19 February 2025 · checked 6 August 2026
- Labour Minister announces increase of monthly minimum wage to €1,088
Cyprus Mail, 23 December 2025 · checked 6 August 2026
- Cyprus Minimum Wage 2026 — rates and excluded worker categories
RSM Cyprus · checked 6 August 2026
Last reviewed: 6 August 2026. This is general information, not individualized legal, tax or immigration advice. Terms vary by employer and personal circumstances; verify important information with the employer or relevant authority.