• Insurance Against Employers' Liability
• Illegal Employment / Unfair Competition
• Contracts for Public Works
• Need Training for Foremen / Superintendents in Construction Projects
Listed in chronological order below have the latest actions / developments.
Meeting of our Federation with the Federation Cyprus Employers and Industrialists (O.E.V) and the Association of Insurance companies held on 11 January 2007, where it was agreed that O.E.V and the insurance companies will, in the forthcoming discussion of the House of Representatives, support raising the minimum amount of insurance (currently amounting to £ 50.000) to £ 90.000. The above amount, determined at a later meeting of the Board of O.E.V and as presented by our President Mr. S. LOIS as a result of background studies prepared to support our positions. The study examined the growth rate of the price index, wages and damages granted by the Courts over the last decade.
On June 20, 2007 a letter was sent to the President of the Parliamentary Committee on Labor and Social Security and on 04 October 2007 together with a second related statement which emphasized the urgent need to amend the PI 197/97 and an increase it from 50 to 100 thousand CYP.
Similar in nature letters were sent along with the memo on 09/10/2007 to the honorable finance minister Michael Sarris and Labor and Social Insurance minister Antonis Vasiliou asking them to take immediate action to resolve the issue.
On 08/11/2007, in a letter to the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the Committee of Labor and Social Security says that the meeting of the Committee held on 27/09/2007, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, agreed to increase the minimum amount of insurance at £ 100,000 and pledged to promote to the House, for approval amending regulations. Finally in the same letter its requested from the Minister to expedite the process for amending the minimum amount of insurance in the amount deemed reasonable.
On 21/11/2007 in a letter by the Substitute General Manager of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to the President of the Federation he tells us that the Minister has a positive stance to our request and that he has forwarded it to the Minister of Finance for his own actions.
The memorandum, which we discussed earlier, justified and supported the request of the Federation to increase the minimum amount of employers liability insurance, giving three essential points:
• the size of the amounts of damages awarded in the event of accident by the Cypriot courts,
• the increased workers salaries from 1997 taken into account in compensation awarded by courts and
• increasing the price index of 70% from 1997 to today.
Letters have been sent to the Ministers of Labor and Social Insurance and Finance reminding them that the matter is pending and that they should act immediately to resolve it.
The above is one of the three issues that our Federation has opened for debate in the Memorandum of Understanding of 04 July 2006. Discussion took place, in 2007 addressing the issue of illegal employment, between the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Building Trade Unions PEO and SEK, but without any outcome. The Federation of Associations of Building Contractors Cyprus stated and declared its readiness to assist government agencies in the fight against the phenomenon of illegal employment.
Illegal employment is, for contractors and organizations, one of the main causes for the creation of unfair competition conditions within the construction industry.
In addition to the illegal employment the following phenomena contribute to the development of unfair competition:
• Non-universal compliance with collective agreements
• Low prices at the expense of quality, timely completion of the work and reputation of the contractor
• Persistence in awarding tenders to the lowest price
• Abnormally high number of contractors (pro rata population)
• Invitation of tenders during the summer leave period In view of above, the Federation promotes to the various committees it is involved in, to state and semis – state services and to ministries the following posotions:
• Stricter requirements for granting / renewal of annual contractor license (stricter legislation)
• Strict enforcement of laws concerning Health and Safety and Employer Liability Insurance
• Monitoring compliance with strict standards to all state projects
• Determining the contractor's profit
• Disengagement from the criterion of the lowest bid and use of the economically most advantageous tender criterion
• Control of tenders (so as not to be less than the cost - an unusually low bid). Application of Article 61 of the Public Procurement Law 12 (I) / 06
The existence of unfair competition in the construction sector recently (November 2007 and January 2008) was the matter of discussion for a Workshop panel organized by the Council for the Registration and Control Contractors (SEEE). The findings of the Work Group are expected as are the proposals to try and resolve this problem which is plaguing us especially in recent years.
Following the adoption of new Conditions of Contract, by the Competent Authority for Public Contracts (Treasury of the Republic) and the Federation of Associations of Building Contractors Cyprus (O.S.E.O.K.) for use in contracts of general government sector, both in building works and civil engineering projects, the new contracts began being used as of 01/01/2007 for projects in the general government sector.
Variations were made in all types of contracts (with approximate quantities and for lump sum amounts with and without quantities) as the main provisions of the designated Contract Terms for Subcontracting.
The new contracts for designated Subcontracting are of the same type as the contracts for public projects and also began implementation.
Following the Workshops originally held to inform contractors, planners and officials of relevant agencies on new conditions of the Contract, two successful training programs have been organized in collaboration with members of the Federation of Associations, approved by the Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA). These were held in addition to updates that were intended for the Boards of Directors and the Management team of O.S.E.O.K.
Some isolated cases of non-compliance by some semi - state services led us to exercise direct pressure through the Treasury of the Republic, which finally led to positive results. The high percentage of success is due to direct awareness by the contractor members of the Association of O.S.E.O.K who detected the irregularity and informed the Federation for preservation of our achievements.
After multiple prompts by members of Associations and the Associations themselves regarding the need for Foremen, due to a huge shortage in the labor market, the management team of O.S.E.O.K. initiated a research to confirm all of the above.
The study drew interest from several companies all over Cyprus with a very high number of candidates which justifies the effort to create a tailor made program to meet the needs that exist today and those likely to emerge in the next 5 years.
The training program is at the end of its design and will be submitted to the Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA) for approval as a multi-company program.
Examples include that the training program will have both a theoretical and a practical part, with 10-12 different sections. The duration is calculated at 20-24 weeks, 2 times a week attendance at the education center or on site with a maximum of 8 hours training time per week. The initial cost and the amount of sponsorship the program will receive from the HRDA has not been supplied at the moment.
Alongside the above actions, coordinated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, a 3-member committee (CEFR - OSEOK - HTI) has been created for considering the matter of education and training Foremen. The original objective of the committee is to develop a pilot training program is expected to begin in March 2009. OSEOK has established the strategy as to where it wants to target the pilot project. The views, recommendations and opinions of the Federation have also been analyzed and distributed to the other members.
Οδός Ανδροκλέους 3Α, 1060, Λευκωσία, Κύπρος,
