Employers are calling for a review of utility rates for businesses and homes with immediate effect after an historic plunge in the price of US oil. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the Malta Employers Association said the low price of oil was not being reflected in the current rates, at a time when households were consuming more energy because they were spending more time at home. 

On Monday, US oil prices turned negative for the first time in history.

The utility bill review was one of a series of new measures proposed by the  Malta Employers Association to help mitigate an economic crisis brought about by the coronavirus.  

It called for a case-by-case approach to aid being offered to further mitigate the impact of the economic crisis on businesses and families. 

'Extend wage supplements'

The MEA also proposed that training grants should be more flexible and enhanced. The 21-day notification for application acceptance should be shortened for companies to be more motivated to train their people. Specific grants for online training could also be introduced. 

Wage supplements, the MEA said, should be extended to cover more employees and sectors. In some cases, there was an anomaly where employees were applying pressure on their employer to be made redundant since the unemployment benefit exceeded the supplement they would get if they continued working. 

Rents for factories facing difficulties should also be temporarily waived. 

'Bonus for health workers'

The MEA said the salaries of employees in the public sector who were idle should be reduced and a special bonus should be awarded to employees in the health sector for the excellent service they were delivering. 

The association said employers had done their utmost to prevent massive unemployment by retaining people in their jobs, even though many of them might be idle.

This was the main reason why predictions of high unemployment had not materialised so far, it said.

Employers were aware that the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 crisis had the potential of being as devastating as the health aspect, and were postponing layoffs as much as possible. 

This was partly the result of various schemes offered by the government to assist companies. But in spite of some optimistic figures regarding the number of new cases of the virus, many businesses expected the negative effects of the outbreak to extend for months, if not more in some sectors.