Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) general secretary Marios Tsiakkis admitted that gaping differences remain between employers’ organisations and trade unions when it comes to the minimum wage, which he said makes the effort to come to an agreement difficult.

According to a report on Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (Cybc) radio, Tsiakkis stressed that the consultations would continue, while denying that under the ministry of the late Zeta Emilianidou they had almost reached an agreement as some claim.

Tsiakkis stressed that the minimum wage to be agreed must provide a decent standard of living for workers but at the same time must respect the resilience of the economy and businesses.

The consultations under Labour Minister Kyriacos Kousios ended in a stalemate on Friday, resulting in an extension of the dialogue until the end of August.

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.

President Nicos 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 per cent of the median wage.