Resigning from a job in Cyprus: the notice you must give

In short

An employee who resigns in Cyprus owes one to three weeks’ notice, or more if the contract says so, and cannot withdraw it without the employer’s agreement.

Klitos Platis, advocate

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When you leave a job, the law asks less of you than it asks of an employer who dismisses. The notice an employee owes is at most three weeks; the notice an employer owes runs to eight.

Three things decide whether your departure closes quietly: how much notice you give, the words you use, and what happens to your pay until your last day. Our employment lawyers can read your letter before you send it.

How much notice you owe

The minimum depends on how long you have been continuously employed by the same employer. Section 10 of the Termination of Employment Law (Law 24/1967) sets it:

26 to 51 weeks of employment: one week;
52 to 259 weeks: two weeks;
260 weeks or more, roughly five years: three weeks.

If you have worked for fewer than 26 weeks, section 10 sets no minimum. Your contract then decides.

The Law sets a floor. Section 9(3) expressly preserves, for the employee’s notice too, any right to longer notice under a contract, a collective agreement, custom or another law. Before you count weeks, read your contract.

The Law sets the minimum; if your contract sets more, your contract governs.

How to resign

Resign in writing, in clear words, with dates. Section 10 prescribes no form for the employee’s notice, but a letter proves what you said and when.

In Pop Life Electric Ltd v. Christodoulou (2025), the Court of Appeal restated that employment may be ended in writing, orally or by conduct, provided the intention to end it appears clearly and beyond doubt. The employee had written that he would move to a new shop on conditions, failing which he would consider himself forced to resign. The employer replied with a “letter accepting resignation”.

The Court held there had been no resignation, because a statement of future intention is not enough. The termination was a dismissal, and the award of €22,234.71 was upheld.

A clear letter of resignation states:

that you resign, in that word;
the date of the letter and your last working day, counted with the notice you owe;
your signature, with a copy or proof of delivery.

You cannot withdraw a resignation on your own

Once given, a resignation cannot be withdrawn without the employer’s agreement. In the same judgment the Court of Appeal adopted the principles of the English case Omar v Epping Forest District Citizens Advice:

the words are read objectively, as a reasonable recipient would understand them;
words spoken in anger, in haste or under extreme pressure may not show a real intention, though that is for the court to decide on the facts;
a written resignation shows thought, so it is unlikely to be found not to have been meant.

If you said “I resign” in a heated moment, write to your employer at once to say what you meant. The Court observed that the more time passes, the more likely later events are to show a change of mind rather than the intention of the moment.

Your pay during notice

During the notice period you are still an employee and you are paid. Both sides’ rights in that period are governed by the Third Schedule to the Law, and a contract term limiting them is void (section 14).

On a fixed wage, you are entitled to it for the whole period, including where you are ready to work and the employer gives you none. If the employer lawfully dismisses you during the period, nothing is due for the rest of it.

Your employer cannot deduct whatever it sees fit from your final pay. The Protection of Wages Law (Law 35(I)/2007) allows deductions only in the cases listed in section 10, among them under a court judgment or with your written and signed consent. Do not sign a consent to a deduction until you understand what it covers.

If you want to leave sooner

The Law sets the notice you owe but does not itself set a consequence for not giving it. What an employer may claim depends on the contract and on what it can prove.

If you have been offered a new post starting at once, ask your employer for a written agreement to an earlier departure. A one-paragraph agreement settles the point before it becomes a dispute.

When a resignation is really a dismissal

If you resign because your employer changed your terms in a fundamental way, your departure may count as a dismissal. The order of events matters.

In Elbee Co. Ltd v. Efstathiou (1989), the employee accepted two months’ salary without protest after a temporary change with an insignificant effect on his pay. The Supreme Court held that, having accepted the change, he could not treat it as a dismissal. If you do not accept a change, say so in writing when it happens.

Our article on termination of employment explains when a resignation caused by the employer counts as a dismissal and what compensation follows.

What this means in practice

Count your weeks of continuous employment and read your contract: the longer of the two notice periods applies.
Write your resignation clearly, with your last day, and keep proof that it was delivered.
If you resigned in haste, write to your employer the same day.
If you are leaving because your terms were changed, speak to us before you resign.

A clear written resignation with the right notice ends the relationship with nothing left open.

Questions we are asked

Do I have to give notice while I am still on probation?

If you have worked for fewer than 26 weeks, section 10 sets no minimum notice. For probation, section 9 provides that no notice is required where, during or at the end of the probation period, either party decides not to continue. A probation period longer than 26 weeks counts only if agreed in writing when the employment began. Check your contract as well.

Can my employer tell me not to come in once I resign?

It can decline to give you work. If you are on a fixed wage and remain ready and willing to work, the Third Schedule to the Law gives you your wage for the notice period. If you agree to leave earlier, record the agreement in writing.

Can I take my resignation back?

Only if your employer agrees. In 2025 the Court of Appeal adopted the principle that a notice of resignation cannot be withdrawn unilaterally. If you resigned in anger or under pressure, write to your employer at once to say what you meant: the more time passes, the more likely it is to be treated as a change of mind.

What should my first message say?

How long you have worked for the same employer, what your contract says about notice, and whether you have already resigned, in writing or orally. If you are thinking of resigning because your terms were changed, tell us what changed and when.

Sources

Klitos Platis

Advocate, Partner

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Cyprus
Published 16 October 2026

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