Malta is studying Ireland’s remote working rules as it weighs how to introduce similar measures at home, after a government delegation held talks in Dublin on work-life balance and employee rights.
Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue and Accommodation Andy Ellul led the two-day visit, during which the Maltese delegation met Irish trade union and employer representatives to discuss how Ireland’s system operates in practice.
Ireland grants workers a legal right to request remote working after they have completed six months of continuous service. Employers can approve, partly approve, or refuse the request, providing a reply within four weeks, which can be extended to eight in some cases. If they refuse, they must provide reasons grounded in business considerations.
Ireland also has a right to disconnect law that applies to all workers, irrespective of whether or not they work remotely. That law states that employees should not routinely be required to work outside normal hours and should not be penalised for refusing to deal with work matters outside those hours.
It is unclear what Ellul and the Malta delegation discussed with Irish counterparts during their visit.
Among those they met was the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, where official Laura Bambrick outlined how workers in Ireland can ask to work remotely. The delegation also met employer body IBEC, whose director Pauline O’Hare said the system has been in place for the past two years and is currently under review.
Ellul said the visit had given the government a clearer idea of the likely impact of such measures and how they could be implemented in Malta.
He said an Irish delegation would now be invited to Malta so local social partners could discuss the issue directly with Irish representatives.
The government’s aim, Ellul said, is to strengthen workers’ rights while improving the quality of life of Maltese and Gozitan families.
Ellul was accompanied by Diane Vella Muscat, director general of the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations.