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MALTATODAY 27 March 2022

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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 NEWS By means of an application filed in the Civil Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction Section, on the 10th January, 2022, Application number 39/2022, by Gerald Borg whereby they requested that be declared open in favour of Gerald Borg and Irene Borg in the quota of one half (1/2) undivided share each one of them the succession of their brother Gordon Cilia, bachelor, son of unknown father and Carmen Borg née Cilia, born in Tal-Pietà, Malta, resided in Ħamrun, Malta, and died in Msida, Malta, on the 29th November, 2020, aged 32, and who held identity card number 276088M. Wherefore, any person who believes to have an interest in the matter is hereby called upon to appear before the said Court and to bring forward his objections hereto by a minute to be filed within fifteen days from the posting of the banns and notices according to law. Registry of the Civil Court, Voluntary Jurisdiction Section Today 4th March, 2022 ALEXANDRA DEBATTISTA For the Registrar, Civil Court and Tribunals Maltese workers work 10 hours of overtime a week Malta, Austria, Ireland, Portugal and UK report highest average hours of overtime worked JAMES DEBONO MALTA, Austria, Ireland, Por- tugal and the UK have reported the greatest average numbers of overtime hours, according to a report published by European Working Conditions Observa- tory (EWCO). Data covering the period 2012-2019 shows average over- time of around 10 hours per week in Malta, one of 13 EU countries which fully reports overtime statistics. The Maltese work even more overtime than workers in the UK where in 2017 employees working overtime would typi- cally do 6.4 hours per week of overtime. The highest rate of employees reporting overtime is found in the public sector, which includs public administration, educa- tion, health, social work and defence. Maltese law states that over- time cannot exceed a week- ly average of 48 hours over a period of 17 weeks unless the employee gives consent in writ- ing. Despite the higher rate of overtime in Malta, overtime is "well regulated by legislation and company agreements, and is therefore not a contentious subject". But the statistics do not in- clude groups for whom the pro- tections provided for in the reg- ulations are waived or adjusted. The most commonly affected group is senior managers, who are either exempt from regula- tions or have specific rules that apply to them – as is the case in Cyprus, Finland, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mal- ta, Norway and Sweden. This exemption is provided for in Article 17 of the Working Time Directive, which permits dero- gations in the case of 'manag- ing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-tak- ing powers'. Statistics also do not include workers in the gig econo- my who in Malta are "mostly third-country nationals work- ing in the food delivery sector and taxi services". EWCO refers to reports in MaltaToday that "there are in- dications that many food cou- riers work around 60–70 hours per week, earning only around €1,500, since they need to give around 50% of their earnings to the recruitment company that found them the job." The General Workers' Un- ion (GWU) is described as "the most vociferous of the unions on the issue", by denouncing working conditions of those workers are akin to 'slave la- bour', since they are unpro- tected and classed as neither self-employed nor employees. The report warns that the COVID-19 crisis further en- dangered workers, as they were encouraged to work overtime to compensate for loss of pro- ductivity, while employers were reluctant to hire additional staff in a climate of econom- ic uncertainty. "As the remote workforce grows, how working hours are recorded is chang- ing, with additional hours often constituting 'grey overtime' – invisible work that takes place at the blurred boundaries be- tween working life and private life." EWCO reports a heightened focus in Malta on the right to disconnect, with trade unions arguing that more workers are ending up working remotely in excess of their usual work- ing hours without any sort of compensation or protection for their mental wellbeing. A survey on the right to dis- connect, carried out in 2017 by the trade union confederation FOR.U.M., further substantiat- ed these claims: 97% of all re- spondents worked after hours, while 95% checked their emails at weekends and 82% checked their emails during family time. Average hours of overtime a week Malta 10 hrs Ireland 8.3 hrs Portugal 8 hrs Austria 7.1 hrs. UK 6.4 hrs Poland 50 min Slovakia 45 min Germany 30 min Norway 30 min Czechia 30 min Italy 40- 100 min France 55 min

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