The Budget for 2022 has failed to address various anomalies of the employment laws which the UĦM Voice of the Workers has been flagging for years, the union’s port and transport section said on Friday.

It said in a statement that a major issue is that not all employees are paid at the double rate on Sundays. The section said the union has been harping on this point and will keep insisting to amend the laws to address this injustice.

It said that although the measure for contractor employees working within the public sector to get double pay on Sundays is a step in the right direction, it will only apply to a very small percentage of workers.

The union said it was also disappointed by the budget's failure to look into reducing the 40-hour working week - something it had proposed - as well as a failure to address the situation of workers who have a 48-hour week, such as public transport workers.

These employees, it noted, are working 416 hours more per year when compared to the rest of the workforce and are only being paid at the standard rate rather than overtime.

These workers, the union said, should have a 40-hour week like the rest of the workforce and get paid overtime if they work more.