A greedy proposal that deserves to be binned

People seem to be so distracted by the unfolding drama in the PN leadership election that the public reaction to very controversial sick leave proposal by the Malta Employers Association was nowhere as strong as it deserved to be.

Earlier this week the MEA presented its prebudget proposals, which included many valid suggestions, including introducing a limit to government positions of trust and setting up a post-Brexit think tank.

But one of its proposals did not go down well at all, at least not with the unions. Employers are suggesting that the first day of sick leave should be unpaid. The association referred to “sporadic sick leave linked to weekends” – meaning when employees phone in sick on Monday morning after a heavy weekend. “As happens in other countries, the first day of sick leave should be unpaid and treated as a waiting day,” it said.

When contacted by this newspaper, the MEA director general defended the proposals, citing widespread abuse.

That there are employees who call in sick when in fact they just want to have a lie-in and add an extra day to the weekend is true, but introducing such a measure nationwide

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would be greatly unfair on the many others who are genuinely sick.

MEA cannot act as if the majority of people who call in sick are abusing the system. In any case, employers should send a doctor to visit the ‘sick’ employees. It should be a doctor, not an employer, who decides whether that person is truly sick or not.

The MEA said in some cases there is clear abuse because patterns are noted by employers. In such cases, employers have their rights at law to take whatever steps they deem necessary, but this unfair system cannot be applied to the entire working population.

For a start, making the first day of sick leave unpaid could force employees to report to work sick, spreading their germs and infecting their colleagues, making things much worse for their bosses. On the other hand, workers who wake up sick but only require one day of rest and recuperation might decide that it is worth taking two or three days, since the first day is going to be unpaid anyway.

Naturally, all the major unions have come out against the proposal. UĦM – Voice of the Workers, the General Workers’ Union, For.U.M and the Malta Union of Teachers have blasted the “unacceptable” proposal, which goes against the interests of the workers.

Moviment Graffitti said it went against past struggles of the workers’ movements to achieve decent working conditions, adding that the health and wellbeing of employees must always be prioritised over profit. Many are saying that, at a time when the economy is performing strongly and Malta is being lauded by credit rating agencies, the country should be working on improving working conditions further, maybe even emulating the Nordic models, not doing the contrary. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday signaled that the government would not accept such a proposal, describing it as a non-starter. One wonders where the Nationalist Party stands on the matter. The PN, lost in its own leadership election woes, has so far not reacted to the MEA proposal. Nevertheless, the party should take a clear stand on the matter. The party cannot expect the world to stop turning until after it chooses a new leader.