Parents who have taken the Covid-19 booster but whose children have to do a 14-day quarantine nonetheless, should be given an exemption whereby they will be allowed to stay at home to look after them without taking vacation leave. Failure to address this existing anomaly will leave parents who have received the booster jab at a disadvantage with those who have not received the third vaccine. Under the current law whoever took the booster will be obliged to return to work before 14 days, with the result that they face the awkward situation of having to leave their children unattended unless they take vacation leave.

The call was made by UHM CEO Josef Vella in an interview with Voice of the Workers Weekly during which he spoke about the latest developments of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it is affecting workers.

In his comments, the Chief Executive also spoke about certain shortcomings of the current laws that are fuelling confusion and sometimes negatively impacting employees. These include decisions of certain employers such as PBS who obliged workers to take the booster even though there is no such obligation by law. Alternatively,  employees are being told to do a weekly PCR test at their own expense even though there is no such provision in the law.

See the full interview below: