GWU welcomes new part-time benefits

The General Workers' Union has expressed its satisfaction at the government's acceptance of the union's proposed amendments to the Employment and Industrial Relations Act in relation to workers whose primary income is from a part-time job.

The amendments came into effect through a legal notice through which, as from last Sunday, part-time workers who work more than eight hours per week will be entitled to pro-rata benefits related to leave, sick leave and other benefits contemplated in the Labour law as they apply to full-time workers.

The GWU said that this decision was expected to curb a lot of abuse since previously the law stipulated that only workers who worked more than 20 hours per week were entitled to certain benefits.

It added that because of this a number of workers who used to work less than 20 hours per week with different companies belonging to the same owners were being deprived of certain benefits even if the number of hours worked collectively amounted to more than 40 hours per week.

The GWU said that this was common practice with various companies providing employment in the security sector.

The union added that it had placed great emphasis on this issue in a document on this sector and had had various meetings with the Prime Minister in which it highlighted these problems. It had also made suggestions on how the law should be changed.