The need to increase the employment participation rate was among the issues that were partly addressed in the budget last year. The introduction of the national insurance contribution reform, in particular, is expected to increase especially the female participation in part-time work. This was surely considered to be one of the obstacles that were hindering such participation. However, although beneficial, this initiative still requires to be supported by other measures to reach the desired holistic goal.

Statistics also show that part-time work as the main occupation is on the increase and this shall effectively induce the need for legislative amendments with regards to Legal Notice 427 of 2002. Currently, part-time work regulations provide that employees engaged in a job of less than a 20-hour week are not entitled to all pro rata benefits such as vacation and sick leave, bonuses, etc even if it is the main employment.

Through the elimination of this threshold, more participation will hopefully be eventually encouraged and the numerous injustices encountered by these workers will be ended. This situation was brought into discussion by unions on various occasions, in particular by the General Workers’ Union.

The government’s quest is to increase the female employment participation rate up to 41 per cent of the working population by 2010 as established in the National Action Plan for Employment; at present this rate is at 30.1 per cent. This target may be being undermined by the growing rate in single motherhood, undeclared work and social benefits fraud, among others.

There still may be cases in which certain individuals in some way or another prefer to stay “comfortably” entangled in the so-called safety net of social services benefits. This is a problem that has been pointed out various times before, mostly by printed media contributors. Once the government has provided the necessary framework that facilitates employment and created the just policies that ensure the return of more single mothers at the workplace, it must thoroughly scrutinise any cases in which social benefits fraud is suspected. This will put minds at rest of all those hard and honest workers who declare every cent they earn.

The government should also legislate in favour of those sectors that are still not covered by any wage regulation order. The shift from traditional to a more knowledge-based economy is creating more of these sectors wherein workers are not guaranteed the minimum entitlements of sick leave, special leave and a special rate for overtime payment. Such amendments need to be introduced without further delays; otherwise we should forget reaching the desired targets in increasing the working population, which is mostly beneficial for the economy.

Achieving the right skills as demanded by the market is essential. The government’s increasing investment in research and development and in MCAST is encouraging. Such investment has proved beneficial for companies like Lufthansa that is sponsoring a number of apprentices to be employed with the company. Lufthansa’s example must also encourage other entrepreneurs to follow suit. The latter must not expect to find tailor-fit skilled employees readily available to suit their needs when required.

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