Blog

Domestic Worker Insurance in Cyprus: A Household Employer's Complete Guide (2026)

Health Insurance

Domestic Worker Insurance in Cyprus: A Household Employer's Complete Guide (2026)

Paul Bendzik·20 May 2026·14 min read

Cyprus employer reviewing domestic worker insurance documents in warm Mediterranean kitchen

TL;DR

Quick Summary

Cyprus law requires every household that employs a domestic worker (housekeeper, nanny, or live-in carer) to hold two insurance policies: Employers' Liability Insurance (minimum 160,000 euros cover under Law 174(I)/1989) and a medical policy (either a Plan A policy meeting Migration Department requirements, or GeSY plus a private repatriation supplement). Most households spend 190 to 330 euros per year on the two policies combined, plus a separate monthly social-insurance contribution of about 123.51 euros on a 460 euro gross salary. Get a free quote from DigiCare to compare Employer's Liability and Plan A medical across every Cyprus insurer.

160,000

Minimum EL cover

per employee, under Law 174/1989

460

Minimum monthly salary

set by the Migration Department

123.51

Monthly contribution

social insurance + GeSY on 460 euro salary

29,167

Cyprus households

employing a domestic worker (2023)

Cyprus has 29,167 households employing 24,207 domestic workers according to the most recent Cyprus Statistical Service data published in 2023. More than 20,000 of those workers are third-country nationals from Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, and Vietnam, per Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou. If you are one of those household employers, Cyprus law treats you as a small business: two mandatory insurance policies, monthly social-insurance contributions, a written contract, and a 7-day registration deadline.

This guide walks through every legal obligation, every cost, and every common mistake we see at DigiCare Insurance after years of placing household-employer policies across the island. For broader context on how private cover fits together for foreign households, see our guide for expat households hiring domestic workers.

Is insurance for a domestic worker mandatory in Cyprus?

Yes. Cyprus law requires two policies for every household that employs a domestic worker in a private home: Employers' Liability Insurance (minimum 160,000 euros cover under Employers' Liability Insurance Law 174(I)/1989) and a medical policy (Plan A Medical Insurance for Foreign Workers meeting Civil Registry and Migration Department requirements, or GeSY registration plus a private repatriation supplement).

Both policies sit on top of the social-insurance and GeSY contributions you pay every month as the registered employer. The two systems handle different risks. Employers' Liability Insurance pays compensation if the worker is injured on the job and a court awards damages. The medical policy pays the hospital bill. Without both in place, you are personally exposed to any accident, illness, or compensation award.

Cyprus is unusual inside the EU in this respect. A private household that hires one housekeeper carries the same insurance obligations as a small business. Law 174/1989 has made Employers' Liability cover compulsory for every employee since 1 February 2004, with no exemption for private homes.

What this means for households:

If you have already booked a candidate's flight to Cyprus but have not bought the two policies, the worker cannot legally start work on day one. We register both policies before the worker lands so the contract clock can begin without a gap.

What does Cyprus law actually require?

Three regulators set the rules. The Employers' Liability Insurance Law 174(I)/1989 makes liability cover compulsory for every employee in Cyprus, with a minimum of 160,000 euros per worker. The Civil Registry and Migration Department licenses non-EU domestic workers and requires Plan A medical cover as a permit condition. Social Insurance Services of the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance require employer registration and monthly contributions.

Here is what each one wants from you in plain terms.

The Employers' Liability Insurance Law 174(I)/1989.

This is the statutory basis for the EL policy. It has been mandatory for every Cyprus employer since 1 February 2004, and the minimum cover sits at 160,000 euros per employee per claim. The same law sets a maximum event aggregate and an annual aggregate that Cyprus insurers price into the premium. DigiCare arranges this cover at the legal minimum or higher, depending on the household's risk appetite.

The Civil Registry and Migration Department.

The Migration Department licenses every non-EU domestic worker through a Category B work permit. As a permit condition, the worker must hold a Plan A Medical Insurance for Foreign Workers policy that covers inpatient, outpatient, and mortal-remains repatriation. A Cyprus Ministerial Committee decision obliges the employer to cover pharmaceutical costs as a pre-condition of the stay permit. EU workers can register under GeSY instead, but still need private repatriation cover.

Social Insurance Services.

Once you employ anyone in Cyprus, you must register as an employer and start paying monthly contributions to the Social Insurance Fund, Redundancy Fund, Human Resource Development Fund, Social Cohesion Fund, and GeSY. The deadline is 7 days from the worker's first day on the job.

Which household-employer category are you?

Cyprus's Migration Department recognises four household-employer categories: family, single parent, single person, and over-65. Each has its own annual income threshold: 24,000 euros for a single applicant or couple, 30,000 euros with one child, 36,000 euros with two children, and 42,000 euros with three or more children. Households earning 100,000 euros or more may employ up to three domestic workers.

Below are the income thresholds the Migration Department uses to decide whether your household qualifies. The figures are gross annual household income from any source (salaries, pensions, rental income, dividends), and they apply uniformly across all four district immigration units.

Employer category	Family size	Minimum annual income	Notes
Family	Couple, no children	24,000 euros	Income from both spouses combined
Family	Couple + 1 child	30,000 euros	Children under 18 or full-time students under 25
Family	Couple + 2 children	36,000 euros	Same dependent rule
Family	Couple + 3 or more children	42,000 euros	Stepwise increases per additional child
Single parent or single person	1 adult, with or without dependents	24,000 euros	Same gross income test
Over-65 employer	Anyone aged 65+	Reduced threshold	Often the lowest test in practice
High-income household	Any composition	100,000 euros+	May employ up to 3 domestic workers

Persons over 65 and persons with a recognised disability certificate are exempt from the family-income criteria entirely. Citizens or residents who can prove mobility limitations through the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities can also bypass the income test. We see this most often for retiree households arranging a live-in carer, where the Category F residence permit sits alongside the domestic-worker application.

EU citizen households with a MEU1 Yellow Slip qualify under the same income tests. Non-EU residents on a Pink Slip can also employ domestic workers, with the same documentation requirements. Cyprus restricts male domestic-worker permits to households that can prove severe employer mobility limitations through a medical certificate. The Migration Department currently does not allow domestic-worker permits for nationals of Myanmar or Ethiopia.

How to hire a domestic worker in Cyprus, step by step

The process runs from candidate sourcing through permit collection in roughly four months. Each step has a paper trail the Migration Department checks, and missing one step usually means restarting from the contract stage. The 10 steps below mirror the Migration Department's documented procedure and the practical sequencing recruitment agencies follow.

Confirm eligibility.

Check your household against the income matrix above. Pull recent tax returns or pension statements before you contact a candidate.

Find a candidate.

Use a Cyprus-licensed recruitment agency or a direct referral. The candidate must be from an eligible country (not Myanmar or Ethiopia) and willing to commit to a multi-year placement.

Get a Department of Labour approval letter.

The Department of Labour issues a position-availability letter confirming the household is allowed to recruit from abroad.

Submit the contract for pre-approval.

The Migration Department reviews two original copies of the Standard Employment Contract for Domestic Workers before any permit is issued.

Apply for the Category B entry permit.

Pay the application fees at the District Immigration Unit of the Police. The Aliens Register opens a file at this stage.

Worker arrives and completes a medical examination.

Within the first week of arrival the worker is tested for tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV. A clean result is required for the permit.

The worker provides biometric data and receives the Temporary Residence and Work Permit. Bring the original passport and the contract.

You become a registered employer with a personal Employer Registration Number. Contributions begin immediately on the worker's first calendar month.

Buy Plan A medical and Employer's Liability cover.

Both policies must be active before the permit is finalised. DigiCare can issue both within the same business day once we have the worker's passport and contract.

Receive the permit and store the documents.

The Temporary Residence and Work Permit lasts up to three consecutive years. Renew at least one month before expiry.

The Migration Department's stated processing time is four months end to end. Contracts signed on or after 1 January 2026 are stamp-duty-free following the repeal of the Stamp Duty Laws 1963 to 2025, so the 2-euro-per-copy stamp that previous contracts required is no longer charged.

The contract and Social Insurance registration: the 7-day deadline

After contract pre-approval, you sign two originals of the Migration Department's standard contract and register as an employer with Social Insurance Services within seven days of the worker's first day. Contracts signed on or after 1 January 2026 are stamp-duty-free. The Standard Employment Contract for Domestic Workers must cover wage, hours, leave, room and board, and termination.

Section 4 of the Standard Contract sets out the termination procedure, and the rest of the document fixes the core working conditions. We walk every new client through the contract clause by clause before signing, because the Migration Department rejects contracts with missing or non-compliant terms. The checklist below covers the eight items that always need to be in writing.

Job title and scope of duties (housekeeper, nanny, live-in carer)
Working hours between 42 and 45 per week, with one weekly rest day
Gross monthly salary of at least 460 euros paid into a Cyprus bank account
Permitted deductions capped at 15% for food and 10% for accommodation when live-in
Accommodation standard (private bedroom with lockable door, heating, and natural light)
Annual leave of 20 to 21 paid days plus Cyprus public holidays
Insurance lines covered (Employers' Liability and Plan A or GeSY+supplement)
Termination procedure following Section 4 of the Standard Contract

The Social Insurance registration uses Form YKA filed at any District Labour Office. You register yourself as the employer and the worker as the employee in the same submission. Once the form is processed, monthly contributions start the following pay cycle. For a parallel explanation of how the public health side of this works, see our full guide to GeSY in Cyprus.

What you actually pay each month: the 123.51 euro social insurance breakdown

The headline figure is 123.51 euros per month. That is the combined social-insurance and GeSY contribution on a 460 euro base wage, split 70.84 euros employer plus 52.67 euros employee. The breakdown below uses the contribution rates currently in force in 2026: the Social Insurance Fund rate moved to 8.8% on each side on 1 January 2024, and the General Healthcare System (GeSY) rates have stood at 2.90% employer and 2.65% employee since the system reached full implementation on 1 March 2020. The structure of the calculation still follows the Social Insurance Services Example 3 framework for a third-country national domestic worker earning 460 euros a month.

Contribution	Rate	On 460 euros	Paid by
Social Insurance Fund	8.8% each side	40.48 euros + 40.48 euros	Employer + employee
Redundancy Fund	1.2%	5.52 euros	Employer only
Human Resource Development Fund	0.5%	2.30 euros	Employer only
Social Cohesion Fund	2%	9.20 euros	Employer only
GeSY (employer share)	2.90%	13.34 euros	Employer only
GeSY (employee share)	2.65%	12.19 euros	Employee only
Central Holiday Fund	0% (exempt)	0.00 euros	Domestic workers are exempt
Total		123.51 euros	70.84 euros employer + 52.67 euros employee

Two things make the domestic-worker calculation different from a normal Cyprus salary. First, domestic workers are exempt from the Central Holiday Fund, which is why this example shows 123.51 euros rather than the higher figure that applies to office workers. Second, when the worker lives in your home, you can deduct up to 15% for food and 10% for accommodation from the 460 euro gross wage, totalling 115 euros per month in permitted in-kind deductions. After the 52.67 euro employee social-insurance and GeSY share and the 115 euro in-kind deductions, the worker's net cash payment is roughly 292 euros per month.

What this means for the worker:

The 292 euro net cash figure is the number the candidate compares against home-country wages when deciding whether to accept the placement. Households that pay above the minimum (we see 500 to 600 euros commonly) generally retain workers longer and avoid the cost of restarting recruitment after a transfer.

The contribution table sits underneath your annual insurance cost, not on top of it. The 123.51 euros covers social insurance and GeSY contributions only. Plan A medical and Employer's Liability premiums are separate annual charges, which we break down in the next section. For the broader mechanics of how GeSY contributions interact with private cover, see how GeSY contributions work.

What does insurance actually cost? Plan A vs GeSY+supplement plus Employer's Liability

Most Cyprus household employers spend between 190 and 330 euros per year on insurance for a domestic worker. The split is a Plan A medical policy (typically 150 to 250 euros per year, covering inpatient and outpatient cover plus mortal-remains repatriation, with a statutory minimum of 3,418 euros and many insurers including up to 5,000 euros) plus Employer's Liability cover (40 to 80 euros per year, statutory minimum 160,000 euros per employee). If you would like a quote on either line, DigiCare's employers' liability cover and Plan A medical insurance for non-EU domestic workers are the two policies our brokers price across every Cyprus insurer in one call.

Coverage line	Plan A	GeSY + supplement
Eligible workers	Third-country nationals (required)	EU nationals only
Inpatient annual limit	Up to 13,700 euros	Universal access via GeSY
Outpatient annual limit	Up to 1,710 euros	Co-payments per visit
Mortal-remains repatriation	Statutory minimum 3,418 euros, up to 5,000 euros with some insurers	Requires private supplement
Maternity benefit	Up to 520 euros	Covered via GeSY
Co-insurance	10% worker share typical	6% or 10% co-pay per service
Annual premium (typical)	150 to 250 euros	0 euros (cost is in monthly GeSY contribution) + 80 to 120 euros repatriation rider
Document accepted for permit renewal	Yes (Migration Dept compliant)	Yes for EU workers only

For a third-country national worker, Plan A is the only practical choice because GeSY does not cover non-EU residents on a domestic-worker permit. For a worker from an EU country, GeSY plus a private repatriation rider works, but the price gap after adding the supplement is usually narrow enough that the simplicity of Plan A wins out. For more detail on the medical side, see our explainer on what Plan A medical cover includes.

Common Plan A exclusions that household employers should know about before they need to file a claim:

Pre-existing conditions

declared on the application or detected at the entry medical examination.

Cosmetic and elective procedures

including weight-loss surgery.

Dental treatment

beyond emergency extractions.

Mental health treatment

(most Cyprus Plan A policies exclude this entirely).

Alcohol- or drug-related injury

sustained while under the influence.

Treatment received outside Cyprus

during a home-country visit unless the policy has a travel rider.

What happens when there is a claim

If a domestic worker is injured at work, the Plan A medical policy pays the hospital bill (typically up to 13,700 euros for inpatient care per year) and the Employer's Liability policy pays any court-ordered compensation up to 160,000 euros. If she dies abroad while still employed, the mortal-remains repatriation cover transports the body home, with a statutory minimum of 3,418 euros under Plan A and many insurers covering up to 5,000 euros.

In practice the two policies work in sequence, not in parallel. The medical policy pays the hospital and any follow-up treatment the worker needs. The liability policy pays any compensation award if the worker (or her family) brings a claim against you for the injury. We have seen claims arise from kitchen falls, ladder accidents during exterior cleaning, and one case of a back injury sustained while assisting an elderly resident transfer from bed to wheelchair.

Filing a claim runs through three steps that every Cyprus insurer follows.

Notify the insurer within the policy deadline

(usually 7 days from the incident, 30 days from a diagnosis). A delayed notification can void the cover entirely.

Submit medical reports and supporting documents

including hospital invoices, doctor's statements, and the worker's identification.

Insurer settles directly with the hospital

for inpatient bills or reimburses you if you paid out of pocket. Liability claims follow a separate court-led process.

Two practical notes from our claims experience. First, the 10% co-insurance share that most Plan A policies charge sits with the worker, not the employer, unless your contract says otherwise. Second, Plan A medical cover is geographically limited to Cyprus. If the worker travels home during annual leave and needs treatment, the policy will not pay unless you bought a separate travel rider.

Termination, transfers, and the 5,000 euro fine you don't want to pay

If the relationship ends, you must issue a Release Paper (Termination of Employment Notification), notify the District Labour Office, and submit the original permit to Civil Registry within strict deadlines, or face 500 to 5,000 euro fines. These are the five most-fined employer mistakes our brokers see across the Cyprus market.

Not registering with Social Insurance Services within 7 days.

The deadline starts on the worker's first day of work. Late registration triggers an administrative fine and back-payment of all missed contributions with interest.

Confiscating the worker's passport, residence permit, or ID.

Cyprus law strictly prohibits holding any of the worker's personal documents. The fine ranges from 500 to 5,000 euros, plus possible blacklisting from future foreign-worker employment.

Deducting prohibited items from the salary.

Flight tickets, visa fees, the medical insurance premium itself, and recruitment-agency fees are all employer costs by law. Deducting any of these from the worker's pay is a separate violation, regardless of what the contract says.

Failing to issue the Release Paper at termination.

Without this document, the worker cannot legally transfer to a new employer. Households that skip this step often face a complaint filed at the District Labour Office.

Obstructing Ministry of Labour inspections.

Inspectors can visit unannounced. Refusing entry, hiding records, or coaching the worker on what to say can result in criminal sanctions under Cyprus labour inspection law, including fines and possible imprisonment.

At termination the worker has a 3-month grace period to find a new employer before her permit lapses, and Cyprus rules allow up to three employers over the lifetime of the permit. Pension entitlements travel with the worker too. Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou confirmed in June 2025 that migrant domestic workers are entitled to Cypriot pensions, and the Council of Europe GRETA group (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings) has recommended that Cyprus tighten oversight of the sector to prevent abusive deductions.

Housekeeper, nanny, live-in carer, au pair: what changes?

Cyprus's Migration Department uses one regulatory category, 'domestic worker', for housekeepers, nannies, and live-in carers. Au pairs have no dedicated Cyprus scheme. What differs is the employer category, applicable subsidy, and insurance scope, not the permit type.

The table below shows how the four role labels map onto the single permit category, and which households can claim a subsidy.

Role	Permit category	Eligible employer	Subsidy?	Insurance scope
General housekeeper	Domestic worker	Income-qualifying family, single person, or senior	No	Plan A + Employer's Liability
Nanny (childcare)	Domestic worker	Family with dependents under 18	No	Plan A + Employer's Liability
Live-in carer (elderly or disability)	Domestic worker	Over-65 employer or disability certificate holder	Yes (domestic-helper allowance)	Plan A + Employer's Liability + possible elderly-care subsidy supplement
Au pair	Domestic worker (no separate scheme)	Income-qualifying family	No	Plan A + Employer's Liability

The subsidy line is the practical difference for most households. Cyprus's domestic-helper allowance, paid through Social Welfare Services, partially offsets the cost of a live-in carer for an elderly relative or a person with a disability. Households that qualify can apply at the District Welfare Office with the carer's contract, the medical certificate evidencing the relative's care need, and the household's income statement. The subsidy is means-tested, so the income evidence is the same paperwork the Migration Department already holds.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Two policies are mandatory under Cyprus law. Employers' Liability Insurance is required by Law 174(I)/1989 for every employee, with a minimum of 160,000 euros per worker. Medical cover (Plan A meeting Migration Department standards, or GeSY plus a private repatriation supplement) is required as a permit condition for the worker.

Most households spend 190 to 330 euros per year: 150 to 250 euros for Plan A medical (covering 13,700 euros inpatient annual, 1,710 euros outpatient annual, and statutory mortal-remains repatriation of at least 3,418 euros with up to 5,000 euros available from some insurers) plus 40 to 80 euros for Employer's Liability cover (covering up to 160,000 euros per employee). Social-insurance and GeSY contributions of about 70.84 euros per month employer share on a 460 euro salary are separate.

460 euros per month gross, set by Cyprus's Migration Department and applied uniformly regardless of country of origin. Live-in workers may have up to 15% deducted for food and 10% for accommodation. After mandatory deductions, the worker's net cash is roughly 292 euros per month. The 460 euro figure has held steady through the 2024 to 2026 review cycle.

Yes. You must register with Social Insurance Services within 7 days of the worker starting work. You receive an Employer Registration Number and begin paying monthly contributions of about 70.84 euros employer share plus 52.67 euros employee deduction on a 460 euro salary, following the Cyprus government's Example 3 framework published by the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance and the current 2026 GeSY rates.

No. Cyprus law strictly prohibits employers from keeping or confiscating a domestic worker's passport, visa, residence permit, or any identification document. Doing so can result in administrative fines of 500 to 5,000 euros and potential blacklisting from future foreign-worker employment. The worker's documents stay with her at all times.

All three are classified as domestic workers by Cyprus's Migration Department and use the same permit category. What differs is the employer category and any subsidy eligibility: a live-in carer for an elderly relative or a person with a disability may qualify the household for the domestic-helper allowance paid through Social Welfare Services.

Final thoughts

Cyprus treats every household that hires a housekeeper, nanny, or live-in carer as a small employer. Two insurance policies are mandatory, the roughly 123.51 euro monthly social-insurance and GeSY line begins on day one, and the 7-day registration deadline with Social Insurance Services starts ticking the moment the worker arrives. Get any one of those wrong and the fines run from 500 to 5,000 euros per breach.

At DigiCare we run quotes across every Cyprus insurer in one call, so the Plan A medical and Employer's Liability lines come back with the best available price for your household. If you are about to hire (or have just hired) a domestic worker, our brokers can have both policies issued the same day. Start with DigiCare's employers' liability cover and pair it with immigration medical insurance tailored for non-EU domestic workers.

Need both policies for your domestic worker today?

Get your free quote from DigiCare

Need help comparing Employer's Liability and Plan A medical for your domestic worker? DigiCare's brokers run quotes across every Cyprus insurer in one call.

Get a Free Quote