Maltese work longer hours than EU average

The average Maltese worker last year spent 40 hours more at work than the average European worker, according to a survey carried out by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO).

This figure excludes overtime, considered to be part and parcel of the working experience for the majority of Maltese workers. According to the survey, last year Maltese employees spent 1,784 hours at their workplaces, a staggering 209 hours more than their French counterparts, who have the shortest working time in the EU.

However, the Maltese worked 72 hours less than the Estonians, Lithuanians, Polish and Slovenian workers, who topped the list as the hardest working people in the 25 member states.

Last year, the Maltese working population enjoyed 13 public holidays - the highest within the EU - in addition to the 24 days of statutory annual vacation days granted according to Maltese law.

On the other hand, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic had only eight public holidays, the lowest number of public holidays across the EU and five days or a whole working week less than in Malta.

The situation in Malta is likely to change this year with the introduction of the public holidays measure announced in the last budget.

The EIRO survey shows that workers in the new EU member states on average work three working weeks more per year than their counterparts in the old member states.

The study finds that the average, collectively agreed weekly working time in the EU as a whole remained at around 36.6 hours last year, while the average collectively agreed paid annual leave entitlement stood at 26 days last year, two days more than Malta's.

It seems that the best place to earn a living with the least effort last year was Sweden, with workers having a total of 44 days off from work, more than double the collectively agreed annual leave and public holidays for workers in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia.

The EIRO comparative study looked at working time developments in all EU countries plus Bulgaria, Romania and Norway.