Leave proposals should enable employment, not disrupt business operations – Farsons CEO

A call for an evidence-based conversation over growing leave entitlement proposals has been made during a discussion that emerged on social media by employers.

Farsons CEO Norman Aquilina published a post, highlighting that political parties are putting forward proposals for an “ever-widening range of leave entitlements. This sits alongside calls for a four-day week, proposals on remote working, and new flexitime rights.”

Both major political parties have made proposals regarding leave entitlements either prior or during the election campaign.

Mr Aquilina stressed that the right to work-life balance should not be disputed, but said that likewise, “‘let work pay’ is a principle we should all support.” But he questioned: “Are we overlooking the other side of the same coin? After all, ‘let work pay’ should mean ‘let employing work too’.”

He said that operating in a structurally tight labour market is already compelling employers to compete not just on salaries, but also on benefits and flexibility, among other things. “Despite the good intentions, if we seek to forcefully extend and over-legislate what market pressures are already driving, are we not risking compromising or unduly conditioning the very jobs we want to improve?”

He said that this is a sensitive and complex issue of equal interest to both employers and employees that demands sober, evidence-based conversation, and that making such announcements in the midst of an election campaign risks turning serious employment policy considerations into a bidding war that may end up backfiring on workers.

“Yes, we must address and regulate abuse and establish acceptable policies and standards which reflect today’s work-life realities and necessities. But let’s not overlook that such policies should also enable employment and expand viable options, not outprice them or disrupt the operations that sustain them,” he said.

The President at Malta Occupational Safety and Health Practitioners Association George Steve Darmanin said that these are valid concerns. Mr Darmanin believes the country already has a substantial and relatively recent framework in place, but said that enforcement has not yet caught up with it.

“As a H&S professional who often must wear both the employers’ and employees’ hats, I fully support work–life balance and stronger attention to psychosocial risks, but without proper implementation and oversight, this risks becoming more rhetoric than reality.

Before extending obligations further, we should be asking whether the current framework is being effectively applied and enforced in practice. There is still a clear gap there.”

He said he is not against new measured, but they should be evidence-based, proportionate, and designed with a clear understanding of operational realities.

Marisa Xuereb, former President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, in comments beneath the post noted that she had experimented with a compressed 40-hr week in a factory environment years ago.

Prime Minister Robert Abela recently mentioned the idea of discussing the right for workers to switch to remote working or a compressed week with social partners.

“My experience is that most people find it very difficult to maintain production rates for 10 hrs on 4 successive days. Health and safety considerations need to made as well,” she said.

Managing Director of Enser Ltd. Anton Cutajar brought up another point. He said that the country is complaining about an overload of foreign persons. “Would not lessening working hours, demand an increase in workers?”

He also said that employers are facing competition with the Government, not just on salaries but also on fringe benefits, and said that while the tax payer pays for these for public sector jobs, in the private sector these have to be paid out by the employers.

He questioned: “Is there any employer who did not lose key people to the Government because these have better salary and better fringe benefits and are expected to deliver less?”