A restaurant lobby is calling on the government to scrap “discriminatory” employment laws that are putting restaurateurs at a disadvantage compared to hotels.
The Association of Catering Establishments (ACE) is protesting a wage regulation that binds restaurants to pay workers double the hourly rate on Sunday, even though restaurants in hotels do not have to.
“Restaurants cannot sustain double wages on Sundays,” ACE vice president Matthew Pace told Times of Malta, adding that restaurants generate much of their income at weekends.
“Most restaurants take their rest days during weekdays, so the industry cannot fall under the same category as manufacturing or factories (in terms of double pay on Sunday) since revenue is generated during weekends and not on weekdays,” he said.
Restaurants and hotels are regulated under the same Wage Regulation Order (WRO), Hotels and Clubs, but they are distinguished within the legislation. Hotels are not required to pay double pay on Sundays but restaurants are.
In a statement, ACE said that an “outdated” Wage Regulation Order for restaurants is “seriously jeopardising the sustainability of this industry”.
The statement said that ACE had met Social Dialogue Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul in early May.
“Why should a standalone restaurant owner that decided to invest in a catering establishment be discriminated against for the same job description and career to a hotel investor?” Pace asked.
Pace said ACE will be announcing their proposals on the issue late this June in a seminar for association members.
Tony Zahra of Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said that the WRO was set up at a time when restaurants were few, opened infrequently, and most employees were part-timers.
“The world has changed now,” he said, adding that restaurants should be regulated by the same or similar legislation as hotels.
In November Ellul announced a study that will lead to reform in a number of wage regulation orders, which are various pieces of legislation that regulate employment conditions such as wages, leave and overtime.
A number of these orders, Ellul said, are out of date, while others create discriminatory conditions among different sectors of workers.