Some private security guards are earning less than the minimum wage, MP Alexandra Attalides, who belongs to Volt, said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, she explained that some security guards have complained of having to work 41 hours per week to earn the equivalent of the monthly minimum wage, with their hourly salaries falling short of the government-mandated minimum.

“In any case, their incomes are generally low, and we have been informed of various allegations of violations of the minimum wage law in relation to the hours worked and income earned by private security guards,” she said.

The issue had earlier been raised at the House ethics committee, with Attalidou saying at the meeting’s end that there have been “many complaints” filed about security guards’ employment status.

Additionally, she said, issues of supervision and licensing of security guards were also raised at the meeting, with the justice ministry set to submit more information on the matter to the committee in due course.

This, she said, will allow parliament “to know what kind of training is given to the people who take on the role of security guards, or who are entitled to run a security company”.

“It is a very important area because at the moment, we have learned that a single company, for example, employs 600 people,” she said, while noting that there are “positive elements” to the current situation.

One such positive element, she said, is that “these companies have the flexibility to adapt to modern conditions and security needs”, and that they “relieve the public of the burden of security many times and use innovation”.

However, she said, there are also negative factors.

She said that these include a “lack of transparency” which “characterises such companies”, and also that they are “driven by the spirit of profit and therefore either security or the rights of the public take a back seat”.

“We really want the state to safeguard the rights of the public and not to just assume responsibility for cases of failures of even misfortunes which may be caused by the actions of employees at such companies,” she said.

As such, she called for “protocols and regulations” to be devised to regulate the industry.

“I believe that we need more inspection and monitoring, better examination of complaints, public transparency, because we are talking about small private armies,” she said.

 “I will request that a special provision be included which stipulates that no private security company can enter a space which is not included in a security contract.”