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Mario Sacco is secretary of the government employees’ section at the Union Haddiema Maqghudin
It is summer time again, and the summer half-days in the public sector seems to be an annual repetitive issue in the local media. Those government employees who work half-days between 15th June and end of September will compensate for these half-days during the rest of the months during the same calendar year by working 8 hours, each working day.
This timetable makes up an average of 40 hours per week, every year. This leads to the fact that if the working time schedule were to be increased or decreased for a particular time of the year, this would automatically affect the working time schedule for the rest of the year. This shows clearly that government employees work a 40-hour week like the majority of other employees in other sectors.
Unlike most of the employees in the private sector, government departments/entities do not have shutdown periods during August and December. Moreover it is calculated that out of the 30,000 employees in the public service, about 50% of them work on a shift basis or on a different timetable all year round according to the exigencies of the service offered by their respective department. In the case of public entities, this issue is usually tackled in their respective collective agreement should the need arise.
One should also consider the issue of half-days as not only a measure to accommodate employees during our hot summer afternoons but also as a family friendly measure. Such working conditions will encourage parents to keep on with their career considering the fact that they can spend more time with their children during their summer school holidays. Therefore one of the reasons for retaining half-days in summer is the retention of parents in their workplace and the attraction of those inactive parents in the labour market.
The issue of half-days in summer cannot be tackled or discussed in a holistic way just for the sake of employees’ efficiency and productivity. This issue must be seen in the light of the circumstances of every particular department and in some cases even for every unit. This has always been the case in the public sector. In many cases it would be ridiculous to abolish the half-days during the summer period. For example, one can’t imagine people working in the streets under direct sun during peak summer time in the early afternoon hours. Why should the half-days be abolished when the efficiency of workers is not going to improve due to dire working conditions which can also their health and safety at work?
Moreover, the UHM always negotiated and finally reached an agreement on alternative time schedules accommodating both parties when it was proved that working full-days in summer is beneficial to the enterprise and indeed to the nation. Obviously, meaningful discussions and negotiations on such issues are fundamental.
Pierre Fava is president of the Malta Employers’ Association
Shorter working days during the summer months is a recurring debate both in the public and private sectors. However, the key question is not whether there should be half-day arrangements during the summer months, but whether offices in the public sector need to become more efficient and customer driven. Enterprise is continually seeking to survive and grow in a competitive environment, must adapt its working time to suit the needs of customers, whether they are internal (ex. other government departments, parastatal organisations) or external (the general public and businesses).
There is a lot of discussion about the need for work flexibility both on the part of employers to satisfy their customer’s requirements and also to introduce schemes, such as flexitime, to encourage higher participation in the labour force. The most important criteria for the design of working hours was and still remains customer requirements and efficiency. Any discussion about the matter cannot deviate from this reality. It is the reason why there is seasonal employment in some industries, why employees work on a shift basis in others, and why other businesses have to ask their employees to be present on weekends and public holidays. Each enterprise should be free to design its own distribution of working hours provided that this fits within the established legal parameters.
The major flaw in the debate about the retention or otherwise of half-days is that the issue is approached from the perspective of conditions of employment, rather than as a matter of efficiency and flexibility resulting in competitiveness.
Employers cannot support the notion that the employees in the public sector should have the privilege of going to the beach on weekday afternoons on the premise that it is a condition of employment that disregards the exigency of the rest of the general public. It is difficult to justify closing an office at one o’clock in the afternoon when the employees can be working in a comfortable environment and when there is a demand for their service.
A case in point is the customs department, where in summer, due to the half-days, consignments which would usually be cleared in the afternoon would have to be left for the next day. This causes undue stress on the businesses that would out of necessity require to clear their goods as soon as these are received and would have to make a request to have someone available in the afternoon at an additional cost.
Employees in the private sector certainly do not have the luxury of benefiting from such concessions. Therefore, an objective discussion of the matter has to be part of a broader context that places the customer first, resulting in a more efficient Malta. In today’s world there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution to the distribution of working hours, and an evaluation of different departments should be made to ensure that the general public, both individuals and organisations, is served best by the public sector which is ultimately being financed from their taxes. |
