The Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) has voiced its opposition to any proposed changes to store operating hours, ahead of discussions in the Parliamentary Labour Committee.

OEB says that such changes would have significant implications beyond just store owners.

Store hours, OEB argues, affect consumers who have enthusiastically embraced the regulations implemented during the peak of the crisis in July 2013 by the late Labour Minister Zeta Emilianiadou. These regulations provided a framework for business operations and allowed thousands of employees to secure full or part-time positions in retail, accommodating the increased demands of extended business hours while simultaneously reducing employee working hours, they say.

“The national economy, heavily reliant on consumption, has thrived due in part to these operational hours despite successive crises. Maintaining these hours, currently in place for a decade, enhances the country’s credibility and has attracted high-quality investments to the sector, giving it a competitive edge on the international stage,” OEB adds.

The debate over store hours has also involved various business owners, with a group of retailers opposing any expansion of operating hours for the past three decades, fearing it would lead to the closure of small and very small businesses.

“However, despite dire predictions, Cyprus still boasts the highest number of stores per capita in all of Europe. With changing consumer habits driving these alterations in hours, thousands of stores of all sizes and categories have successfully operated, contributing to the nation’s growth and prosperity,” the Federation notes.

“No one has the right to cancel this contribution of retail to collective progress and development, with experiments that lead to the weakening of this important sector of the Cypriot economy,” OEB concludes.

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