Employers have shot down a government proposal that they provide higher social security contributions to pay for maternity leave.

Instead, the Malta Employers’ Association wants the government to share the cost equally.

It is also proposing that the mothers forfeit some of their accumulated leave entitlement.

Mothers used to be entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave, paid for in full by the employer. Under EU legislation, maternity leave has gone up to 18 weeks, with the government footing the bill for the extra four weeks’ pay.

Unfair to shift the burden of payment for maternity leave

The government has now proposed that instead of direct payment of 14 weeks’ salary, all employers will collectively pay an extra NI contribution of 0.3 per cent of payroll.

The proposal was made during a meeting of social partners within the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development, ahead of the Budget for 2015.

The MEA issued a position paper yesterday arguing this would be unfair on employers, who have always shared social security contributions with the government and employees. Instead employers should pay 0.15 per cent, matched by 0.15 per cent from the government.

The MEA would also like to see mothers losing their right to the ‘normal’ vacation leave that accumulates during the 18 weeks, which usually amounts to about eight days.

Furthermore, it wants the government to make a written commitment that the 0.15 per cent increase will not set a precedent for revising social security contributions.

It expects the government to provide a report with the full workings of its proposals.

The proposed new arrangement, it said, would partially address “the negative impact of maternity leave on the cash flow of the business,” as the cost would be spread out evenly.

In most other developed countries, “maternity leave is paid by the State and not by the employer”, it added.