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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2014 News 4 DANIEL MIZZI PAUL Pace, president of the FORUM confederation of trades unions, has dropped a bombshell, claiming that there are employers who sack preg- nant employees so they would not have to pay maternity leave. Dubbing the action as "undeni- able", Pace insisted that despite being bound by law to pay maternity leave to employees who are pregnant, em- ployers resort to "any pretext to fire pregnant employees in an effort to avoid paying maternity leave." "Last year only 900 out of the 2,000 engaged in the private sector applied for maternity leave. The other wom- en did not apply, presumably because they had their work terminated," he said during the current affairs TVM programme Reporter. Under Maltese law, a pregnant employee may start maternity leave four weeks before the expected date of birth, but Pace argued that em- ployers "find an excuse to fire their pregnant employees before this four- week period starts." "The only way you can deny a wom- an maternity leave is by firing her. Employers are bound by law to pay for maternity leave, but they never- theless find an excuse to sack a wom- an so they would no longer work. You cannot deny this," Pace said. Malta Employers' Association pres- ident Arthur Muscat, another guest on Reporter, disputed Pace's claims, saying they should not be making sweeping statements. Muscat referred to recent contro- versial proposals by the MEA on sick leave, insisting that if an employee suffers self-inflicted injuries, the em- ployee should not be eligible for sick leave. The MEA's proposals for the Employment and Industrial Rela- tions Act, suggest among others that "self-inflicted ailments such as hangovers, commercial surgeries, sunburn, and sport-inflicted inju- ries" should not render an employee eligible for sick leave. "If an employee is warned against doing dangerous sports or stunts, such as diving off Comino cliffs, and the employee nevertheless ignores such warnings, then he should not be paid for sick leave," Muscat said. The proposals however met strong objections from the GWU, which insisted that irrespective of an employee's ailments, an employee should be eligible for sick leave. GWU secretary General Tony Zarb said that "any medical certificate is- sued by a doctor should count for sick leave." The majority of respondents to a MaltaToday survey insisted that employers should not be allowed to determine which ailments should qualify for sick leave. However, 33% of respondents felt that hangovers should not benefit from sick leave, and 20% did not feel that sports in- juries should be included. Dispelling the criticism, Muscat insisted that the MEA is against abuse, not against sick leave. "Employers must check the records of the employees and their activities. If there is a trend emerging, and it is clear that there is abuse, we have to interfere because this is abuse and unfair both on the employee and on fellow workers," he said. Union boss says employers 'fire pregnant women to avoid paying maternity leave' Four protected birds reported killed THE Committee Against Bird Slaughter has reported the shoot- ing of four protected birds early yesterday morning near Safi, Has- Saptan valley and Bidnija. The Bidnija shooting was captured on video and passed on to the Police. Administrative Law Enforce- ment officers conducted a search in the area 40 minutes after re- ceiving the call, but found neither bird nor hunter. The birds killed are reported to include a Kestrel, a Honey Buzzard and a Grey Her- on. "The poacher would have had enough time to hide the bird or to leave the area with his illegal prey," said CABS spokesman Axel Hirschfeld, adding that CABS was informed that two of the ALE off- road vehicles earmarked for hunt- ing surveillance were currently not available due to various mal- functions. CABS say the incident comes a day after a CABS team was insult- ed by a hunter whom they filmed killing a protected Bee-eater in Gozo. The footage and car regis- tration details of this hunter were also passed on to the police. CABS also announced that it will pass on the locations of 38 static bird caller installations used for hunting and trapping of Quails, Teals, Song Thrush and several protected wader species to the police today. The locations of the devices were recorded by the NGO over the past few days.

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