‘Merely A Tick-Box Exercise’: Maltese Activists Criticise New Work-Life Balance Directive

Moviment Graffitti, along with eight other organisations, have criticised the new Work-Life Balance directive and they’ve subsequently proposed five ways in which it can be drastically improved.
“Why isn’t the Maltese Government delivering an ambitious vision which inspires and which will truly improve workers’ quality of life and has a positive impact on Maltese society?” the activist organisations asked.
Movement Graffitti; Aditus Foundation; Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar; Integra Foundation; Malta Women’s Lobby; Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement (MGRM); National Parent’s Society for Persons with Disability; Women’s Rights Foundation and; ADHD Malta have all reprimanded the new directive and called for more effort to make the laws more effective and inclusive for different types of families and their needs.
The following suggestions are all aimed at Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul.
Their main issues with the directive are that they only satisfy the bare minimum required by the EU Directive and that they were created with a “wholly undemocratic spirit”.
“The consultation was held behind closed doors for three whole years without consulting the relevant organisations and academics.”
The organisations presented five proposals to strengthen work-life balance in the workforce because according to them, the current transposition of the law is “letting down Maltese society”.
“The current implementation fails to acknowledge that all families have different needs,” they said.
Firstly, they suggested making the ten days of paternal leave more flexible by not limiting it to immediately after the birth or adoption of the child.
Their second example was regarding the two-months of paid parental leave.
“Parental leave is at the sick-pay rate of €21.85 daily. Why are parents going to be paid at sick-pay level when they are perfectly healthy and when they are providing a service to society with their care? Does the Government realise that this money will not go far in a period when the family’s expenses shoot up, especially with the recent increase in the cost of living?” they asked.
They further explained that if this rate is not revised, very few parents will afford to take this leave, especially fathers. Therefore, it will remain women’s responsibility to provide unpaid or poorly paid care for the family, they said.

Meanwhile, their third suggestion is also regarding parental leave.
“The law states that the paid portion of parental leave cannot be used all at once. Only one month can be used until the child is 4 years of age. The organisations are asking for flexibility in this regard so that the paid portion of parental leave can be taken according to the family’s needs.”
Similarly, they explained how the carers’ leave measure just shows how the government is taking those workers who provide caring services for granted since they are granted five days of unpaid leave.
“This leave should be paid adequately and fairly. The Government needs to stop propagating the charity model,” they said.
Fifth and finally, the organisations explained that while the law gives parents of children less than eight-years-old and workers with caring responsibilities the right to ask for flexible work arrangements, they don’t set any criteria about which requests should be met.
“Moreover, the fact that the measure is only applicable to parents and those with caring responsibilities, again shows that the Government is out of touch with today’s society. This right to request flexible work arrangements should be available to all,” they continued.
Ultimately, they argued that these new measures are “nothing but a tick box exercise so that Malta conforms to the EU Directive’s requirements.”
The organisations further made it clear that they are awaiting a reply from the Ellul to explain to them and to the Maltese population what steps will be taken to improve the current law on work-life balance.
This is not the first time that the new laws have been under fire. PN MEP David Casa also argued that the government opted for the “bare minimum”, while a host of activist organisations said that the directive shows how policymakers are “out of touch“.
Do you think that the new Work-Life Balance directive should be improved?