Controversial promises about sick leave made during Malta’s recent general election campaign brought protests from employers. Both major parties promised they would allow parents to use their own sick leave entitlement to look after poorly children. Employers fear the scheme would cost businesses money, and could be open to abuse. Politicians argue that instead parents would be more likely to use their sick leave more carefully. Unions have had little to say on the issue.
Two major parties contested the general election in Malta on 9 March 2013, the ruling Nationalist Party (PN) and the Partit Laburista (PL). Both promised in their campaigns that if elected they would give parents the right to use their sick leave entitlement to care for sick children or elderly relatives.
An official from the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA), Arthur Micallef, said there was a hidden cost to these proposals which was likely to increase the cost of labour. He said additional expenses which ultimately affected the cost of the end product could harm the economic viability of firms.
Employers’ main concern was that the scheme could increase absences, disrupting workflow. The measure, described by Mr Muscat as ‘short-sighted’, could also harm women’s employment opportunities.
MEA General Secretary Joseph Farrugia, while emphasising that his organisation was in favour of a culture change in family-friendly measures, said that this sick leave proposal would encourage parents to be absent themselves from work more often.
Tony Zahra, President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA), also criticised the idea. He appealed to both parties to drop the proposal, arguing that it would harm employment in the hotel and catering sector.
Employer representatives posed a number of questions:
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi supported the proposal, arguing that it would actually discourage abuse because working parents might be encouraged to exercise more caution in their handling of sick leave entitlement and save it for when their children were ill.
Surprisingly, perhaps, the trade unions were less than vocal on the issue. The General Secretary of the General Workers’ Union (GWU), Tony Zarb, said only that while he understood the employers’ concerns, the measure was a positive step.
Justice Minister Chris Said commented that before coming into force, the proposal would have to be discussed at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), Malta’s national tripartite institution for social dialogue.
Professor Godfrey Baldacchino, Chair of the Centre for Labour Studies (CLS) at the University of Malta, noted that on average men tended to report higher rates of sick leave than Maltese working women. The stay-at-home parent was more likely to be the mother.
Furthermore, he argued that the real issue about this measure was not one of abuse but rather about the steep differential between private and public sector practices. Indeed this proposal is already included in some of the collective agreements of public entities, such as the Central Bank of Malta.
Saviour Rizzo, Centre for Labour Studies