Unions propose leave for parents with sick children, VAT exemption on essential services for pensioners
With Budget 2019 set to be announced on 22 October, unions and organisations alike have begun issuing their proposals as to what schemes and ideas they would like to see included.
While some have already been revealed, four more entities – the Malta Union For Midwives and Nurses (MUMN), the UĦM – Voice of the Workers, the Chamber of Commerce, and the GRTU - Malta Chamber of SMEs, each gave this newsroom a list of their key proposals and ideal points of inclusion in the upcoming budget.
The proposals include many interesting suggestions, including a proposal by one union regarding the ability for parents to take leave to care for their sick children, and a proposal by another union to create a VAT exemption on essential services for pensioners. Some other proposals are for funds generated through the Individual Investor Programme (IIP).
The Chamber of Commerce recommends that IIP scheme funds should finance a holistic transport strategy to shift towards a sustainable and effective multimodal transportation system. The UĦM, on the other hand, proposes that funds from the IIP scheme should be used to provide zero-interest loans to low income families to help them pay the required deposit in order to get a normal house loan from commercial banks.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, announcing the budget date earlier this year, said that the government was now at a stage where it needed to manage expectations and success. “A balanced budget would be satisfactory now – we don’t need a big surplus, and whatever extra revenue comes in, we want to spend and redistribute,” he said.
Scicluna had also added that it was important to be ‘watchful’ of a successful economy, warning that success should not be taken for granted but rather studied and interpreted.
The MUMN, UĦM – Voice of the Workers and the Chamber of Commerce have provided The Malta Independent with a list of their key proposals for the upcoming budget.
MUMN
The MUMN has argued that parents should be given time off to care for sick children without running into hardship at work because of it.
“Health care providers routinely recommend that acutely ill children stay home from school and, if necessary, see a medical doctor. Otherwise, their illnesses can worsen or spread to others, health care costs can increase, and small problems can become serious threats, with the consequences of hospitalisation or contagion issues. But for many employed parents, taking time off to care for a sick child means losing income or, worse, risking their job. A parent deserves a day/night off to care for a sick child without running into hardship. Parents need more than ‘just a day off’; they need to be able to meet their children’s health care needs without risking their job. Evidence indicates that employees who receive paid sick days due to a sick child are substantially less likely than employees without such benefits to send a sick child to school,” the MUMN said.
“When children are sick enough to require medical attention, we need parents to be with them. Outpatient facilities and hospitals depend on parents to supervise their children, transport them to and from appointments, fill out forms, monitor symptoms, communicate with medical doctors, collect laboratory samples, administer therapies, and provide comfort during tests and procedures. When children become patients, parents become health care providers, and without them, the paediatric health care system would grind to a halt.”
The MUMN said that “government approaches should include: mandating unpaid family leave with job protection (protection from being fired) for extended absences; paid sick leave with job protection for frequent or intermediate-length absences; and paid sick days that can be used for incidental brief absences to care for ill family members.”
The MUMN said that flexible schedules and telecommuting could help, especially for parents with a chronically ill child.
“The risk of fraud can be minimised through employer policies requiring certification of health conditions. Furthermore, studies have shown that most employees use these types of benefits to deal with the real demands of real illnesses. And the health care system relies on parents to meet these demands on behalf of their children. The MUMN suggests that organisations (whether public/private sector) must ensure that their employees are able to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Evidence shows that people perform better at work when they’re not worried about home issues. When policies are employee-centred and allow employees to be supported during the changes in their lives, including the challenges of parenting, employees return to work more focused and dedicated,” the MUMN said.
Aside from this issue, the MUMN highlights a number of other proposals. The MUMN suggests that the government implement a health-in-all-policies approach, whereby the country would not only have a healthier society, but also a healthier economy and a healthier budget balance.
The MUMN believes that the expansion of services is a positive step toward helping individuals
achieves optimal health and wellbeing. “However, the nurse staffing levels and supporting staff levels need to be factored in when increase of services is suggested.” The MUMN also noted that the chronic nursing shortage needs to be addressed adequately and appropriately
Other points the MUMN raised deal with government working in partnership with major stakeholders to provide affordable housing and accessible highquality health care. They highlighted that the correlation between poverty and ill-health is strong, and asked for a multipronged strategy to deal with this issue by, among other things, raising social assistance rates to reflect the cost of living, investing in affordable housing, addressing environmental determinants of health and others.
The call for the budget to be written with a health lens, and with a view to investment in upstream solutions.
U}M - Voice of the Workers
The UĦM – Voice of the Workers highlights four key proposals and issues for the coming budget.
The first is that families who do not qualify for social housing yet have a relatively low income should be provided zero-interestrate loans from the funds brought in through the IIP scheme. These funds would be able to help families with a relatively low income pay the 10 per cent deposit required by commercial banks for them to qualify for a home loan, the UĦM says. “This scheme will also help these families buy property rather than rent.”
The second proposal surrounds the creation of a fund regarding the safeguarding of salaries for employees who are not paid on time due to administrative reasons beyond their control. The fund, the union believes, should be administered by an administrator appointed by the courts, who would act in consultation with management, the unions and workers. They suggest that the authorities create a mechanism that triggers automatically in such circumstances.
The UĦM also proposes a VAT exemption or refund on a list of products and services considered essential for pensioners today. As an example, the UĦM says, one could include facilities that help reduce the heat in accommodation. Aside from helping pensioners financially, this proposal will also encourage pensioners to continue living at home within the community.
The fourth item listed states that the union agrees that parents of Gozitan students who study in Malta should be provided with a reduction in tax of no more than €5,000, in order to make good on the costs of travelling, transport and rent.
Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce recommends that government address the budget exercise from a multi-annual perspective. The Chamber recommends that a carrying capacity analysis (including economic, social and environmental impact assessments) of the country be carried out by the Central Bank or independent entity with the involvement of the country’s main stakeholders in the social and economic sphere. They further propose that government initiates a national debate on a new long-term economic, societal and environmental master plan for the country post 2020.
The Chamber of Commerce highlights that the National Development and Social Fund established through the Individual Investor Programme (IIP) should finance a holistic transport strategy to shift towards a sustainable and effective multi-modal transportation system. It also recommends strengthening Identity Malta with more resources to enable better streamlined procedures for recruiting third-country employees and embarking on an international marketing campaign showcasing employment opportunities and quality of life in Malta.
The Chamber speaks of the importance of extending all types of work-based learning across all post-secondary and tertiary-level educational institutes.
They also recommend establishing a new national competitiveness agency to ensure that the economy is not hampered by new and excessive regulations, measures and taxes which negatively impact competitiveness.
GRTU - Malta Chamber of SMEs
The GRTU says: “In the next budget, we would like the government to seize the opportunity of healthy finances that should put it in a position to give back to different stakeholders, among which are businesses.
“In order to balance out the advantage foreign-owned businesses have in Malta, the government should extend the current micro-invest scheme to encourage further investment and also reduce income tax on business to 20 per cent on profits up to € 60,0000 and 25 per cent for profits over this amount.”
The GRTU this year is also seeking to encourage private pensions, “since pensions are a very big concern for business. In order to increase take-up, the GRTU is proposing increasing incentives for micro-enterprises and their employees when contributing towards their private pension.”