The Nationalist Party today must regret one of the early decisions it had taken soon after it was re-elected to government in 1987. At that time, with the aim to please a population that had emerged from a strict socialist rule, it had increased the number of annual vacation leave days for all workers from 20 to 24 days, and increased the number of public or national holidays to 14.

Today, in total, Maltese workers benefit from 38 days of holidays, nearly two full months away from work. This is one of the highest figures across the whole of Europe.

That the PN realised its mistake became clear a few years ago when a new rule came into force – public and national holidays that fall on a weekend are no longer compensated with an extra day of vacation leave, as used to be the case before. Unions had protested about this measure, but the government had implemented it saying that it would help Malta’s competitiveness.

These 38 days of holidays are no doubt detrimental to industry in general and the country’s economic growth. But it is hard, not to say impossible, to reduce them now. Unions will protest and it will not be a popular decision.

When, as happened this week, a holiday falls on a Thursday, many workers take one day leave on the Friday to bridge with the weekend, and in this case these employees are unproductive for more than half the week with just one day of vacation. The same happens when a holiday falls on a Tuesday.

Apart from slowing down production – and, remember, human resources are the only assets that this country enjoys in the economic wheel – holidays are also a financial burden on companies. Those entities that cannot stop operating just because it is a public or national holiday have to pay overtime or double pay to their employees, thereby increasing their costs.

Nobody is contesting the right for people to rest, or to enjoy their families, or to plan holidays away from home. After all, other family-friendly measures have been introduced over the past years to balance work and free time. But it must be admitted that 38 days of holidays are on the high side, and employers are the first to complain about this.

When, apart from these 38 days, some employees tend to add their sick leave allocation as if they have the right to take them even though they are healthy, then the problem becomes bigger.

But that’s another story.