FAMAGUSTA District Court yesterday sentenced a businessman to three months in prison and fined him an undisclosed amount for failing to pay his employees’ salaries.
On top of the sentence, the man was also ordered to pay all the salaries due.
The labour ministry’s labour relations department yesterday announced there had been a worrying increase in bosses failing to pay their staff.
“(The department) will continue to criminally prosecute employers who, in violation of the Law for Protection of Salaries, make arbitrary pay cuts or don’t pay their employees’ salaries,” said the announcement.
It added: “Through the complaints we receive and the inspections that are carried out, the phenomenon has taken on worrying dimensions”.
According to the department, a total of 4,397 inspections were carried out on workforces in the first half of the year, resulting in 378 cases going to court for various violations. At the same time, previous cases were ruled on, resulting in fines of over €104,000.
“The Department of Labour Relations would also like to note that the Law for Protection of Salaries demands payment of salary on a steady systematic basis, weekly or monthly depending on the case, and it doesn’t allow any arbitrary cuts,” the announcement concluded.