Deductions from wages for debt in Cyprus: attachment of earnings

An employer served with an attachment of earnings order must start deducting from the next salary payment; if you do not work there or leave, the employer must inform the court within 10 days (Cap. 6, section 91Ζ). If you change employer, your earnings change or your employment ends, you must notify the registrar of the court in writing within 7 days (section 91Θ).

A creditor may apply for an examination at any time while the judgment debt remains wholly or partly unpaid, whether or not a writ of execution has been issued (section 82). An employer in doubt about how to apply an order must ask the court within three days of service (section 91Ζ(5)).

1. Check whether a deduction from your pay is lawful at all. Under section 10 of the Protection of Wages Law of 2007 (Law 35(I)/2007), an employer may deduct money from your salary only where a law or regulation provides for it, under the rules of a pension, provident or medical fund, under a court decision, for damage you caused intentionally or through gross negligence (after consultation), under a collective agreement, or with your written and signed consent.

   A creditor's letter, a bank's demand or a debt collector's call is not enough. If your employer deducts money for a private debt without a court order or your written consent, raise it in writing; disputes go to the Ministry of Labour for mediation and then to the Labour Disputes Court (section 10(3)).

2. Respond when you are served with an application for examination. A creditor with an unpaid judgment may apply to the court for your examination about your financial situation, about money or property held for you by third parties, and about any transfers of assets made after the debt arose (Cap. 6, section 82). The application lists the orders the creditor wants; the court cannot grant an order that was not requested (section 87(2)).

   Attend the hearing. The court has the same powers to compel you to appear as it has for any witness (section 83), may adjourn the examination and require you to give security for your attendance, and may order your detention if you refuse to give it (section 86). Ignoring the application only leads to orders made without your side of the story.

3. Prepare full disclosure of your income and needs. At the examination you are questioned on oath by the creditor and the court about your ability to pay, the assets available for payment and any disposal of assets (section 84). You must disclose the name and address of your employer, details of your actual and expected earnings, copies of all your bank account statements, any other income, and the needs of yourself and your family (section 84(3)).

   Bring recent payslips, a list of monthly household costs (rent or loan, utilities, school fees, medical costs), proof of other debts and court orders, and documents about dependants. The court may also order you to file an affidavit describing your property (section 82(3)); failure to comply is punishable as contempt of court.

4. Make sure exempt income is left out. When assessing your financial situation, the court does not take into account money you receive as public assistance, the guaranteed minimum income, social insurance benefits, student grants, or a pension that does not exceed the poverty line for a single-person household as published by the Statistical Service (proviso to section 82(1)).

   Point these amounts out expressly and bring the award letters. The exemption does not apply where the debt is owed under a maintenance order made under the laws on property relations of spouses and on parents and children. For child or spousal maintenance, the court may therefore consider all your income.

5. Propose a realistic instalment. After the examination the court may make an instalment order, set aside fraudulent transfers, make an attachment of earnings order, prohibit you from disposing of your property, or issue a garnishee warrant (section 87). An instalment order fixes dates and amounts that the court considers reasonable and within your means (section 90).

   It is often better to offer a concrete monthly amount, supported by figures, than to leave the calculation to the creditor. Courts regularly fix modest sums, for example €100 a month, where income is limited. Keep paying: persistent failure to pay instalments ordered under section 90 may be treated as a fraudulent act against the creditor (section 91A(3)).

6. Know what an attachment of earnings order does. The order is addressed to your employer, including the Republic if you are a public employee (sections 91ΣΤ and 91Ι). It states your identity, the full amount still due including costs, and the amount to be deducted periodically. The employer must pay the deductions to the creditor or to the court officer at the intervals the court sets.

   The employer must comply from the first salary payment after service, give you a written statement of each deduction, and may also deduct an amount fixed by the court for administrative costs, never more than 5 % of each deduction (section 91Ζ). An employer who fails to comply commits an offence and may be ordered to pay the amounts itself. An order is not issued while another method of enforcement is pending (section 91Ε(2)).

7. Apply to vary or suspend the order if your situation changes. You may apply to the court that made the order for its variation, suspension or cancellation if your financial situation and needs have changed since the last examination (section 91Η). The court can grant the application if continuing the deduction would cause you substantial difficulty in meeting the basic needs of yourself or your family, or for any other reason it considers reasonable.

   Support the application with an affidavit and documents: a reduced salary, a new child, illness, loss of a second income. The creditor may also apply to increase the deduction if your situation improves. Instalment orders can be varied in the same way under section 90(2).

8. Report a change of job within seven days. If you change employer, your earnings change or your employment ends, you must inform the registrar of the court in writing within seven days (section 91Θ). A new employer who knows about the order must also notify the registrar within seven days of hiring you, stating your earnings. Breach is an offence punishable by a fine.

   If your employment ends, the old employer must tell the court within 10 days, and the order is suspended on its application unless the court redirects it to your new employer. Telling the court yourself keeps you in control and avoids a new examination in which the court may assume you concealed income.

9. Do not move money or property out of reach. Gifts, transfers, charges or concealment of assets made to obstruct a judgment creditor are fraudulent acts under section 91A, and they are presumed fraudulent until you prove otherwise, even if made before the lawsuit was filed. The court can set them aside (section 91Γ), and the debtor commits an offence punishable by up to 12 months' imprisonment (section 91B).

   The creditor can also, at any time after judgment, obtain a garnishee warrant over money in your bank accounts or debts owed to you by third parties (section 73). If your debts are beyond your means, take advice early on personal insolvency procedures rather than waiting for several creditors to enforce at once.

• Not attending the examination. The court can compel your attendance, require security and decide on the creditor's evidence alone; orders made in your absence are harder to change.
• Incomplete disclosure. If you conceal income or assets, the creditor can later apply to increase the order, and concealment may be treated as a fraudulent act with criminal consequences.
• Forgetting exempt income. Social insurance benefits, the guaranteed minimum income, public assistance, student grants and pensions below the poverty line must be left out of the calculation, but only if you point them out.
• Changing jobs without telling the court. Failing to notify the registrar within seven days is an offence, and the creditor may restart the examination.
• Transferring property to relatives. Transfers made to obstruct a creditor are presumed fraudulent and can be set aside; a defence exists only for transfers for reasonable consideration or for a relative's education, medical care or settlement.
• Accepting unlawful deductions. Without a court order, a legal provision or your signed consent, your employer may not deduct a private debt from your pay; silence may later be presented as consent.
• Waiting until several creditors enforce. Separate examinations can be consolidated by the court (section 88), but a structured insolvency solution is often better than several attachment orders.

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Last updated: 04/11/2026 · Sources: Civil Procedure Law, Cap. 6, sections 73, 82 to 91Ι (examination of the judgment debtor, attachment of earnings), Protection of Wages Law of 2007 (Law 35(I)/2007), section 10, Guaranteed Minimum Income and Social Benefits Law of 2014 (Law 109(I)/2014), Social Insurance Law of 2010 (Law 59(I)/2010), cylaw.org, EUR-Lex

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