Malé, Maldives — The parliament has decided to reduce the sick leave days that are granted to workers -without submission of a medical certificate- from 30 days to only 15 days per year.
The provision was initially proposed to have mandatory submission of medical certificates if employees applied for even a single day of sick leave.
However, due to the expressions of concern by the public, during committee stage, the the provision was altered, allowing employees to take 15 days of sick leave per year, provided that they were not absent for two or more consecutive days.
According to a report compiled by the Joint Committee consisting of the Committee on Social Affairs and the Committee on Economic Affairs, majority of the employees were likely to experience difficulties in complying to the initial proposal.
The Joint Commitee had also sought input from major employers in Maldives along with publics opinion before they finalized the changes.
The previous Employment Act had granted employees a total of 30 days of sick leave without having to submit a medical certificate, provided that workers were not absent for two or more consecutive days.
Although the new amendment was passed with lenient provisions than the initial proposal, the public has expressed several discontent on social media channels as they consider reduction of total sick leave days unfavorable.
