Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue Andy Ellul announced that, as from 2nd August, several rights will be introduced into Maltese law.
These are paternity leave, parental leave, and carers’ Llave.
“The launch of these leaves means that another electoral promise has been fulfilled”, noted Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul.
Parliamentary Secretary Ellul explained that paternity leave for fathers or second parents will be increased to ten days.
Currently, in the private sector, this leave is of one or two days, while for those working in the public service, it is of five days.
This means that those working in the private sector will be gaining up to nine days of additional paternity leave, while those working in the public service will be gaining five more days.
“We will also be seeing that these ten days are paid in full according to the salary of the worker in question”, noted the Parliamentary Secretary.
He announced that through this law, the parental leave, which currently stands at four months unpaid, will now be paid for two months under the National Parental Leave Rate.
In addition, Parliamentary Secretary Ellul also reiterated that this leave will be split over eight years, making sure that parents can make use of it when they need it most.
The Parliamentary Secretary also explained that a new concept will be being introduced into Maltese law, which is that of carers’ leave.
This leave is five days per year without pay and can be used to take care of relatives living in the same residence for medical reasons.
He explained that the financing of these measures, the introduction of which will also result in the transposition of the Work-Life Balance Directive, will be done entirely by the government until the end of 2023.
As of 1 January 2024, the government will continue to bear the expenses related to its workers, while the private sector will also start undertaking its share.
This will all be done by the expenses related to these leaves being covered by the Maternity Leave Trust Fund.
Finally, the Parliamentary Secretary said that through these changes in law, working parents will also have the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes until their children reach eight years of age.
Therefore, the government will be encouraging flexibility so that the quality of life of our families continues to progress.
Source: Office of the Prime Minister