The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry is against any further expansion of family-friendly measures, its president, Frank Farrugia, told the chamber's annual general meeting.

He said employers had had enough of measures that while giving more family time to workers could erode competitiveness.

Citing the “scarcity of skilled human resources” as the biggest challenge facing Maltese businessmen, Mr Farrugia said the government should intervene urgently to “avoid further measures that negatively impact the labour market by reducing effective working time for workers”.

He cited public holidays and an extension to parental leave as prime examples.

The chamber has opposed some measures, saying studies show they are eroding our competitiveness

Both major political parties, particularly in the run-up to the last general election, pledged measures such as additional leave when public holidays fall on a weekend and more incentives for parents to stay at home when they have young children.

READ: Government considers combining maternal and paternal leave

The chamber has vociferously opposed some of the measures announced, noting that according to studies, they were eroding Malta’s competitiveness vis-à-vis competitor countries.

Mr Farrugia noted that pressure on the government against more vacation leave to cover for public holidays had already born results. “The government’s decision to limit the damage to business to just one day in 2018 was taken as a sign of goodwill, and we shall now continue with our discussions, to ensure that the final effect of this measure will be cost neutral to employers,” Mr Farrugia remarked.

OPINION: Serious threat to our competitiveness - Frank Farrugia

He proposed a number of initiatives, including financial incentives to employers to do more night work and “generous fiscal incentives” to civil servants to move to the private sector.

Mr Farrugia also made an appeal for what he termed the avoidance of instances “which could be interpreted as slip-ups in issues of governance”.

He pointed out that while the country was going through a good economic period and public finances were healthy, Malta should take advantage of the situation “to rectify structural issues that threaten long-term fiscal sustainability”.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com