Lobbyists have slammed the General Workers' Union and Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin for failing to exert influence on the government in its transposition of the work-life balance directive in favour of the interest of workers.

In a letter to the two unions, Moviment Graffitti, the Malta Women’s Lobby, the Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability, the National Parent’s Society Persons with Disability, the Women’s Rights Foundation and aditus Foundation expressed disappointment at the role the unions played in the transposition of the directive, calling for a change to the "weak law"

On August 2, legal notice 201 of 2022, amending the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, will come into force in Malta transposing the EU Work-Life Balance Directive into local law.

The changes will essentially extend paid paternity leave, introduce partially paid parental leave (two months of the current four-month leave will be paid at sick-leave rate) and grant parents the right to request flexible hours. 

Carers get five days of unpaid additional leave a year to support a sick relative.

Lobbyists have already publicly complained the way the local government implemented the directive will increase the caring gap between women and men.

In the letter to the unions, published on Friday, the six organisations expressed dismay that during discussions ahead of the transposition, which they say took place behind closed doors, the unions agreed to its implementation in a way that did not adequately take into account the needs of workers who have family and care responsibilities.

Legal Notice 201 of 2022, which transposes the Directive, gives the least possible to workers in Malta, with the result that, in practice, the objectives of the directive will not be achieved, they lament.

"With the exception of 10 days of fully paid paternity leave, all other measures are extremely weak. Of the four months of parental leave, only two months will be paid, and this at a miserable rate of sick pay, €21.85 per day.

"This means that few working parents will be able to afford to use this leave. One of the aims of paid parental leave is to encourage men to make use of it so that family responsibilities are shared more equally between the sexes; a goal that will certainly not be reached due to the very low rate at which this leave will be paid. In addition, the fact that this leave cannot be taken all at once  - only a month can be used until the child is four years old - means that parents will not be able to use it when they need it most."

The right of workers to request a flexible working arrangement from the employer, as introduced by the legal notice, will have almost no impact because there is no obligation to meet these demands in certain circumstances or under certain conditions, they added.

In their letter, the organisations said that the results of this transposition show that the unions have completely failed to exert influence in favour of the interests of the workers during the discussions in the Employment Relations Board.

The measures implemented are the mandatory minimum from the Directive and have been introduced through a ‘tick box’ exercise, only for Malta to comply with the Directive on paper, instead of an exercise that seeks to make a positive difference in the lives of working parents and those with care responsibilities.

In their letter, the organisations questioned why the unions did not call for a broad consultation and they agreed to to the "worst possible transposition".

They urged the unions to play their role of defenders of the interests of the workers and give full support to the request the organisations will make to the government for broad consultation and significant improvements to the law.