Employers’ Association against industrialist’s sick leave proposal

James Debono

The President of the Malta Employers Association Arthur Muscat has distanced himself from a proposal made by fellow employer Andy Gatesy to make the first three days of employee sick leave cost free for employers.
Andy Gatesy, made this declaration during a visit made by the Prime Minister at the Toly Products factory in April.
“We disagree with arbitrary regulations like this one,” declared Arthur Muscat during yesterday’s edition of Int X’Tahseb?
Arthur Muscat did not refrain from calling on the government to address abuses in this sector.
“The medical profession should also shoulder its responsibility,” added Muscat.
The MEA President also remarked that discrepancies in sick leave rates between the public and the private sector “cannot be explained through medical reasons.”
Muscat observed that the situation in the private sector is a far cry from that in the public sector.
“In the private sector one finds a certain sense of dialogue between the employee’s doctor and the company doctor. This is clearly not the case in the public sector where the rates of sickness are double those in the private sector.”

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