In an effort to provide clarity, the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIERs) has released a set of FAQs aimed at helping employers and employees to understands their rights and regulations about conditions of employment due to COVID-19.

The FAQs delve into when and how employers may change conditions of work, information about when and how to use vacation leave, whether an employer is able to change a worker’s contract from full-time to part-time, and more.

The virus, which has infected over one million people worldwide, is causing enormous strain on national healthcare services and local economies. In Malta, with the total number of cases reaching 213, the health service does not, as of yet, appear to be inundated, while national health authorities appear to be in control.

From an economic perspective however, a heavy reliance on tourism has already begun to leave its mark. A vast number of industries across the economic spectrum are feeling the pinch, such as restaurants, bars, hotels, English language schools, marketing agencies, PR and media companies, logistics, shipping and real estate.

For companies which are providing a service or product that is in high demand during COVID-19, the fear of the workforce falling ill, supply chains being suddenly broken off and standard operating procedures going out the window are still causing severe disruptions.

Therefore, most companies are currently running their numbers under different scenarios, assessing their options and determining what they can afford to keep paying, and what they can’t. Anecdotally, a number of workers already report receiving pay-cuts and reduced hours, as companies have already begun to make hard choices.

Complaints against the Government came last week over confusion when Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that those living with a vulnerable person (defined by a set of criteria) or with persons who are over 65, should also quarantine, or move out. Mr Fearne said for those who cannot move out, and cannot work from home, they are to remain home and will receive a subsidy.

The next day, at differing times, Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci and Prime Minister Robert Abela clarified that if those living with vulnerable persons are able to work from home, they should, but if they can make no alternative arrangements they should still report to work and will receive no benefits for remaining home.

Until the clarification was made, companies around Malta were scrambling to figure out how they were to continue operating with so many of their workforce needing to stay home, because they lived with a vulnerable person, as reported by various employer unions.

Read the full set of FAQs here.