Updated 3.30pm with Principal Permanent Secretary's statement

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin has instructed public servants who have children aged 12 and under and who have nobody to look after them during office hours to work from home between Monday and April 11.

Schools will physically shut from Monday, with classes switching to online, as part of measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a statement issued later on Friday, the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary said that all public sector workers had been instructed to work from home on March 4.

Many public sector workers are already working from home, in line with a government order issued earlier this month instructing workers to work remotely where possible.

UĦM had reacted to that directive by insisting that only "essential" public sector work should be carried out in offices, and urged the government to implement its directive fairly. 

The union has now said that it is issuing a work-from-home directive to its public sector members who are parents because new health measures unveiled this week are being implemented in a "half-baked" manner.

It directed the parents of children 12 years and younger, who have nobody to look after them while at work, to work from home. This measure, it said, is not applicable when one of the parents is available to look after the child. It is applicable on school days and days when children are registered to attend Klabb 3-16. 

The union also directed employees at educational institutions whose duties can be carried out through remote working to work from home. 

It said that pregnant women, even if they are front liners, should also work from home.

The directives remain in force until April 11 or until the current measures are changed.

Teleworking directive issues on March 4

In a statement on Friday, the Principal Permanent Secretary's Office said it had already issued a directive for all public sector workers whose work does not need to be done from the office to work from home.

The directive was issued more than a week ago and was applicable to workers no matter their vulnerability.  

"This means that that which the UĦM announced a short while ago is unnecessary as it has already been in effect for a number of days.

"As recently as yesterday, the Principal Permanent Secretary and all Permanent Secretaries were discussing how to continue to ensure - in the current circumstances - the delivery of services to clients despite the fact that most of the work must be done via teleworking."