Discovering that an employee is terminally ill comes as a shock to any employer, especially if drastic decisions about their employment have to be taken.

Yet for Mario Muscat, CEO of a cleaning services company, the decision was a no-brainer – he sent the employee home to spend time with her family while receiving her full pay.

“When we learnt that one of our employees had cancer and only had a few years to live, we wanted her to spend these last days with her family.

When we learnt that one of our employees had cancer and only had a few years to live, we wanted her to spend these last days with her family

“But we also wanted her to spend her time leading a comfortable life, and that is why, without any hesitation, we decided to offer her full pay while she did not come to work,” Mr Muscat said.

He gave comments during the launch of the Adopt-a-Family initiative – a project by the President’s Trust and Mr Muscat’s company, OzoGroup.

After helping out his own employee, Mr Muscat wanted to also encourage other business owners to do the same and approached President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to launch a nationwide initiative. Apart from his own experience with the employee who fell ill, Mr Muscat also drew inspiration from his own hardships.

As a child, Mr Muscat said, his father was unemployed for over two years and his family had to rely on charity.

“I know what it feels like to have to depend on others for the basics, such as food. If I can help at least one family and not have them go through such an experience, that would make me happiest,” he said, holding back tears.

He insisted that while his company had succeeded in achieving numerous awards and had grown to over 2,000 employees, this was the project he was most proud of.

“I’m out of the picture now. It’s up to the experts to choose the families and decide who will get what. But at least I’ve seen my dream come to life,” he added.

Speaking during the project launch, Ms Coleiro Preca thanked Mr Muscat for taking the time to come forward with such an idea and encouraged other entities to do the same.

She said a working group would ensure that the funds collected were distributed adequately to those most in need.