The flexi hour concept for female employees at Enemalta is to be stopped as from 1 December for a number of employees, this newsroom is informed. However, Enemalta has denied such claims and said that, as in previous years, it has approved several requests from employees wishing to avail themselves of flexitime, since such a concession facilitated the business needs of the company.

The news to its workers, which was sent in a letter, came a day after the government said in the Budget Speech that it is implementing a set of measures to raise the female employment rate significantly. A copy of the letter sent to workers turning down their request for flexitime was made available to this newsroom.

As matters stand, employees can go to work at a time convenient for them, between 6am and 7am and leave the office according to the time they had punched in.

But now, sources told this newsroom, one of the government's entities - Enemalta Corporation - is doing the opposite and, as a result of this planned move, working mothers would be forced to either increase their teleworking hours or end up working at reduced hours.

Enemalta says it grants flexitime concession according to the company's work exigencies

Enemalta said in its replies to this newsroom that it offers a flexitime concession, one of several other family-friendly measures available to its employees.

"As defined in the employees' collective agreement, this concession is granted according to the work exigencies of the company. This year, as in previous years, Enemalta approved several requests from employees wishing to avail themselves of flexitime, since such concession facilitated the business needs of the company.

"As long as this concession continues to facilitate employees' work-life balance without disrupting the company's services and operations, it will be retained," Enemalta said.

In the Budget Speech on Monday, the government said that a good 7,000 single mothers on benefits will be incentivised to work, one of a set of measures to increase the female participation rate in the workforce.