Malta is never short of controversies. Never mind long-standing ones, such as those on hunting, overdevelopment, fireworks factories, wardens, and irregular immigrants, new ones seem to crop up all the time.
The controversy over the cash-for-passport scheme is far from over but taking pride of place on the national agenda right now is the issue over the civil unions Bill, which, if enacted in the form it is presented, will make gay couples eligible to adopt children.
Some rough weather may be ahead over the matter but there is another controversy brewing, regarding a proposal for working parents to be able to take days off from their sick leave entitlement when their child falls sick. By comparison with some other controversies, this may appear somewhat mild, but employers have already stirred strong opposition to it.
It is not just employers who are against it; others are equally opposed as, they argue, it could affect productivity.
When Lawrence Gonzi brought up the proposal before the election, he argued that the measure would discourage sick leave abuse because working parents would be aware that they might need the entitlement if their children get sick. He felt the measure, if implemented, would also raise the workers’ loyalty towards their employer. The Nationalists included the proposal in their electoral programme and, not to be outdone, Labour did so too.
On the face of it, the arguments brought forward by Dr Gonzi made sense but how would such entitlement work out in practice? The director general of the Employers’ Association, Joseph Farrugia, could hardly have been more categorical when he said: “Any idea that there will be a drop in abusive sick leave if such a measure is introduced is misguided.”
Mr Farrugia felt that the net result of such a move would be that many parents would still opt to take any available sick leave on the pretext that their children are sick.
Many already claim sick leave when their children fall sick. Where Mr Farrugia goes wrong perhaps is when he says that it is a crazy idea. There are some countries, such as Germany and Sweden, for instance, where parents can get temporary paid parental leave when children under 12 fall sick. However, both countries are well advanced and can well afford such generous schemes, which is not the case in Malta and in so many other countries where the standard of living is much lower.
Still, it is another social target to aim for but progress in the development of a social benefit structure takes time as it has to take place concurrently with economic growth.
As the situation stands now, working parents needing to take time off to care for sick children or other members of the family have to take parental leave or days off out of their annual leave entitlement, although some, as already remarked, claim sick leave.
The issue has come up again because the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations is studying how best to introduce the measure. There does not appear to be any timeframe for its implementation and, as is well expected, the issue is planned to be taken before the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.
Much as working parents would wish to see the measure taking shape, it would seem best to consider all the implications first before going ahead with it at this stage.