New 10-day paternity leave plan shot down

Small and medium enterprises have shot down an EU directive through which men will benefit from 10 days of paternity leave while employers said they will not fork out a cent.

The European Parliament and Council of Ministers have agreed on a new Work Life Balance Directive, which will, among others, introduce a 10-day paternity leave remunerated at not less than the national sick pay level – up from the current one-day allowance.

Reacting, the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (GRTU) said it would be better for member states to assess the most effective way to increase women’s participation in the labour market as well as to promote equal participation of women and men in caring parental tasks. 

Introducing paternity leave at European level was not considered appropriate and the GRTU disagreed with it, CEO Abigail Mamo told the Times of Malta. 

While the EU pushed for harmonisation on a topic of extreme diversity, for Malta this was considered a big step not because employers were against the participation of fathers but because human resources “are what they are and small and micro companies will find this most burdensome”.

To put things into perspective, Ms Mamo said...