{"id":4152,"date":"2020-11-12T16:34:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T15:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=4152"},"modified":"2020-11-12T16:35:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T15:35:43","slug":"telework-opportunita-mitlufa","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/telework-opportunita-mitlufa\/","title":{"rendered":"Telework \u2013 A Missed Opportunity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Last March as soon as the pandemic broke out Government had\u00a0promptly\u00a0made a strong effort to ensure that everyone works from home\u00a0to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Prior to the outbreak, telework was restricted to a small number of employees, often parents of\u00a0young\u00a0children.\u00a0While in certain entities within the public sector this facility was\u00a0quite diffused, in the private sector it was\u00a0very\u00a0limited.\u00a0
Consequently, government had rolled out a series of incentives through which private companies were granted financial assistance to encourage employees work remotely.\u00a0These schemes included a refund of up to \u20ac500 per worker, to alleviate the costs of installing the necessary equipment.
The initiative found strong support not only from unions but also from other social partners.\u00a0Apart from being a family-friendly measure, telework offers other advantages such as reducing traffic.\u00a0Last March, toxic emissions had dropped by 70 percent.
U\u0126M Voice of the Workers in April had called on government to clinch the golden opportunity brought about by the pandemic to extend this\u00a0temporary arrangement on permanent basis.
Unfortunately,\u00a0when the first wave was over Government made a drastic change in direction\u00a0so much so that these incentives were put aside arguably to give the impression that life was back to normal.
Aware of this fact and buoyed by the strong sentiment among its members\u00a0who were being deprived of remote working\u00a0without a valid reason,\u00a0U\u0126M piled further pressure\u00a0on telework particularly in its 2021 Budget\u00a0proposals.\u00a0These recommendations were meant for Government to\u00a0discuss with the social partners\u00a0telework\u00a0schemes\u00a0on permanent basis.
U\u0126M also insisted that\u00a0telework should not be given at the expense of reducing allowances.\u00a0Experience suggests that telework often results in better productivity.
Unfortunately, U\u0126M\u2019s\u00a0proposals\u00a0fell on deaf ears as the Budget made scant reference to the issue with just one mention in the 106-page speech \u2013 to extend an existing scheme in Gozo.
This shortcoming is even more baffling\u00a0in the context of the current situation which is more alarming than ever as the death toll has exceeded 80\u00a0and the active cases\u00a0constantly hover around\u00a02,000.\u00a0Ironically, at this point in time it seems it is harder to get telework, than ever before!
Keeping in mind that remote working will be norm in the near future, and that Malta\u2019s healthcare system could collapse if cases continue to soar, remote working\u00a0is the solution\u00a0to face this pandemic whose end is hopefully months away.\u00a0May\u00a0common sense\u00a0prevail.
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