Sick leave: NGOs and unions rail against MEA

Moviment Graffitti yesterday added its voice to the growing chorus of disapproval – which includes the likes of the General Workers Union, UHM Voice of the Workers and the Malta Union of Teachers – against the budgetary proposal of the Malta Employers’ Association that the first day of employees’ sick leave be an unpaid ‘waiting day’.

The pressure group echoed the unions’ sentiment, stating: “This proposal should be opposed on principle and in the light of the past struggles of the workers’ movements to achieve decent working conditions.

“We believe that the health and wellbeing of employees must always be prioritised over profit. The introduction of a waiting day puts economic pressure on, and will affect, all workers especially those with health problems. The excuse that such a measure exists in other countries is unreasonable because it ignores the fact that wages in Malta are significantly lower than those in mainland Europe. Such a proposal also shows the MEA’s indifference towards the speedily rising cost of living and the challenges faced by many ordinary Maltese families to make ends meet.

“Moviment Graffitti is ready to seek alliances with workers’ movements if sick leave rights are put under threat. These rights must be protected at all costs since, as we have seen from other rights such as leave that falls on weekends, if these rights are lost, they may be lost for good.”

The Malta Employers Association, meanwhile, is sticking to its guns on the controversial proposal.

Speaking to our sister daily paper, MEA director Joe Farrugia said the union has been speaking about abuse in the workplace for a long time. In 2016, he had spoken about the so-called ‘Monday morning syndrome’, which refers to the abuse on the part of mainly younger workers, who report sick after a weekend.

The association has previously also laid the blame on ‘unethical practices’ on the part of medical doctors when issuing sick certificates.

Asked why the MEA was again targeting sick leave, Farrugia said: “We need to curtail abuse. Many employers have complained about the increase of sick leave being taken, particularly connected to days around the weekend, such as Mondays.” He added that other countries, such as Germany, have similar measures, where either the companies do not pay for the first sick day or the government does.