Social partners will be meeting next week to draw up a set of guidelines for private and public sector employees who are requested to stay in quarantine due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The matter was originally scheduled to be discussed by the Employment Relations Board but the Prime Minister’s Office has requested that a meeting be called for all social partners on the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development.
The aim is to draw up guidelines and a tentative plan on how to deal with the quarantine issue if COVID-19 makes an appearance in Malta.
There is confusion among workers and employers about the issue.
Quarantine leave on full pay, made available to government workers over and above their period of sick leave, has not been extended to private sector employees.
Times of Malta reported on Friday that private employers want the government to share the cost of the 14-day quarantine period that people returning from coronavirus-hit regions are being advised to undergo by the health authorities.
There is uncertainty over whether quarantine leave granted to private sector employees qualifies as special leave on full pay or whether it is a sort of extended sick leave period.
Moreover, sources said the decision not to make the special quarantine leave applicable as from Saturday meant that people would be ignoring the measure if the period had to come out of their vacation or sick leave.
“It is obvious that if there is no special leave, people are simply going to ignore the quarantine and report for work even if they’ve got a slight fever. You cannot expect people to comply,” one member of the MCESD told Times of Malta.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry called on the authorities to open urgent consultation on all matters related to COVID-19.
With the situation escalating in other countries, “time is not on our side,” the chamber said.
“The situation is crying out loud for clarity, calm, common sense and consistency.”
The two main unions, General Workers’ Union and UĦM Voice of the Workers, asked for an urgent meeting so that recent developments can be discussed.