Government employees working at Karin Grech and St Luke's Hospital, both run by Steward Health Care, will no longer have their sick leave benefit deducted.

In a statement, the UĦM Voice of the Workers said the move follows its successful intervention.

Prior to the agreement reached, employees reporting sick leave for four days or more were only being paid for the first three days in breach of employment law, the union said.

Consequently, in cases of long-term illness, employees were suffering a pay cut. 

The union said the abuse came to light after workers who had been ill for more than three days found a note in their payslip saying that their sickness benefit had been deducted. 

By law, government workers receive sick leave payment directly from their employer and are eligible for at least 30 days of sick leave annually.

UĦM had warned Steward to stop the practice, threatening further action, but Steward denied that it was deducting the benefit and had threatened legal action against the union.

The union said on Friday that Steward had now accepted to stop the practice. It ordered that government workers must be paid the sick leave benefit in full, specifically in cases where they were sick for more than the three days.