New legislative proposals for civil service reform in Cyprus

The Cypriot parliament is currently reviewing revised legislation aimed at restructuring the civil service recruitment and promotion systems. Proposed changes to the recruitment process include adjusting the weighting of supervisor evaluations, clarifying the criteria for special versus general written examinations, and establishing a structured 18-step process for filling vacant positions. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has estimated that technical implementation of these changes will require five to six months to update necessary software.

Simultaneously, the reform process is addressing departmental promotion policies. Since the initial 2022 reform, cross-departmental promotions allowed employees to move to higher scales, such as A13, across different ministries. However, concerns regarding specialized expertise have led to the exclusion of 12 departments from these rules, with proposals to exclude an additional 13 departments currently under parliamentary discussion. Officials argue that cross-departmental mobility must ensure candidates possess relevant domain knowledge.

The discussions, involving the Ministry of Finance and the civil service union PASYDY, also touch upon salary scale revisions. Parliamentary committees are scheduled to review these bills to ensure alignment across political parties, aiming to expedite the filling of vacancies and modernize the broader state apparatus.