Chamber against parents using sick leave to attend to children

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said in a statement that it was strongly against a proposed concession for parents to take their sick leave to attend to their children when they were unwell.

"This proposal serves to institutionalise an injustice against employers. The introduction of such work practices will serve to erode further Malta's competitiveness and potential for growth," it said in a statement issued this morning.

The Chamber said that it regarded sick leave as "a concession and not a right", believing that it came at a cost to the employer and should not be "exploited or trivialised". 

"It is available for employees to avail of when they are genuinely unfit to attend for work.   Ample annual leave is available and should be used in order to attend to family responsibilities."

The Chamber said that, whilst employers endeavour to be flexible and compassionate with their staff, this measure will pose additional burdens on them and other employees.

"The measure could bring about a perverse effect in that it may encourage workers to report to work when they are sick in an effort to "save" their sick-leave entitlement for when their children are unwell," it said. 

It said that the cost of this measure will further erode the competitiveness of both SMEs and larger companies alike and will continue to exacerbate economic problems. 

"Companies with a small number of employees will feel the effect disproportionately.  Besides, the proposal can serve as a dangerous precedent as attempts could then follow to extend the scope of the measure." 

The Chamber said that it was in favour of family-friendly measures and its proposals were intended at finding the right balance between granting reasonable flexibility to workers and incurring losses in competitiveness due to business disruption and financial cost.

It said that, for this reason, the Malta Chamber emphasised that the national policy must place particular emphasis on measures that discourage absenteeism and promote people at the place of work.