UĦM seeks assurances on teleworking directive

UĦM Voice of the Workers has called on the government to ensure that the COVID-19 remote working directive, which has been re-introduced, will be implemented fairly this time around.

Chief Executive Officer Josef Vella made the request in a letter to Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar.

The UĦM said while it firmly believes that this is a necessary measure to control the pandemic's spread, it also believes that other measures must accompany this directive.

Proposed measures

• Any workplace within the public sector and public service must ensure that it is the norm for employees to work remotely from home and keep working from the premises only in exceptional circumstances which are justified
• Employees given remote working should not have deductions in their take-home pay
• On the other hand, in case whereby duties have to be carried out from the workplace the administration must create a roster comprising different bubbles, which do not mix together, and work must be assigned through a rotation system

UĦM said it was requesting that every workplace must consult with it before giving directions to workers.

"Denying employees the facility to work remotely on the grounds that they have been vaccinated is unacceptable. It is a fact that even after the second dose of the vaccine has been administered, employees can still contract the COVID-19 virus, albeit with less severe symptoms," the union said. This will make these people carriers.

Furthermore, the union noted that many workers have not yet received the vaccine or have only been administered the first dose.