An alternative way to stem sick leave (ab)use in Malta?

Training managers to care for the mental well-being of their staff could be an effective way for companies to reduce the burden of sick leave costs, according to a recent study in Australia reported in medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry. Sick leave recently hit local headlines when, as part of its Budget proposals, the Malta Employers’ Association suggested that that the first day of sick leave should be unpaid, as happens in some other countries, as a way of deterring abuse and cutting the cost of sick leave for employers. However, the trade unions immediately poured cold water on the proposal, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat describing it as “a non-starter” in comments given to this newspaper. The Australian study involved a four-hour training progamme for managers on how to recognise symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and alcohol misuse in the workplace. The programme underwent a trial in 2014 among 128 managers at the Fire and Rescue New South Wales, the seventh largest urban fire service in the world. Six months after the training the researchers followed-up all the managers, analysing changes in sick leave use among the 2,000 fire-fighters and...