On The Job

This article was first published on Pink November 2011

How can a woman seriously develop her career on the same level as a man if an employer has to fork out so much money if she gets pregnant?”

These are some of the considerations that go into deciding whether employing women is ‘attractive’.

Alison Bezzina understands why the country’s female employment rate is the lowest in Europe.

In January 2011, there were 1431 unemployed women in Malta and Gozo.

625 women had been actively looking for work for over 20 months.

Malta’s female employment rate is the lowest in Europe.

In statistical reports ‘unemployed women’ are defined as those who are officially looking for work and failing; it does not include those not registering for unemployment benefits, and those who choose to stay at home because they have no family support structures to help them with the children.

There are many reasons why women ‘choose’ not to participate in the labour market, with family-unfriendly conditions being at the top of the list. In an attempt to address this issue, last year, a new European directive proposed to increase the maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks. In Malta, the proposal found great opposition, and to date, both the private sector which is the largest employer in Malta, as well as the Government, have turned it down.

Ms. Helga Ellul CEO of Playmobil Malta Ltd and President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, openly declared herself against this proposal. Ms.Ellul said that if the maternity leave period had to increase “employers would look at it as an additional financial burden, and that this would definitely affect the prospects for female employment.”  Ms. Ellul also claims that there are no studies “that suggest that longer maternity leave would facilitate women’s life in the workforce.”

Interestingly, whilst Malta has one of the lowest female work rates in Europe, it also has one of the lowest birth rates. According to the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisiations this is because “we are in a situation where women staying home cannot financially afford to have more children, whilst women in employment simply cannot have more children because of the lack of family support structures.”

Dr. Frances Camilleri-Cassar is a full time senior lecturer at the University of Malta and associate professor at The University of Nottingham. One of her research studies explored gender equality in Maltese social policy as experienced by 39 women graduates with young children. The study found no clear evidence to link the fertility decline in Malta to higher participation in the labour market. In other words, the women in Camilleri-Cassar’s study provide no persuasive evidence that they are choosing employment over childbearing.  It also revealed that though the respondents find it unfair that family responsibilities fall almost exclusively and automatically under their realms, not one of them would like to have a stay-at-home husband while she participates in the labour market full-time.

“I’ve always worked,” explains Helga. “I had two children and in my opinion the longer women stay home after giving birth, the more they bond with the child making it more difficult on themselves to settle back into work life. If your job is important, then it is better to organise yourself as quickly as possible and to get back to work as soon as possible, perhaps starting with reduced hours or a more flexible work pattern.”

But is it just a question of flexible facilities and support? Or is the situation more a result of a culturally ingrained mentality?

A recent study commissioned by the National Council of Women revealed that almost 15% of men and women believe that it is females who should take care of the family, and over 30% stated that men are more suitable for the workplace than women.  According to the NCW the potential of many capable women is being lost as a result of lack of self-confidence or culturally ingrained attitudes and behaviours, as well as lack of support structures.

Joan Cachia* runs a small family business. She is a professional woman working in a male dominated industry.  Her experience with employing women has been generally positive, however a couple of bad incidents have left a bitter taste in her mouth. “Sometimes women tend to engage in childish, clique-ish behaviour,” explains Joan. Once, a couple of my female employees did not get along, and one of them rallied all the other women’s support to make the other one feel left out. As an employer I find this tiring, time-consuming and terribly counter-productive. It is in such situations that women can be their own worst enemies. Work itself presents more than enough challenges to deal with and fire fighting to keep drama out of the office is just extra.”

“My main gripe about employing women is that they don’t handle criticism well,” says Joan. “Sometimes they take it very badly, and I’ve often found myself having to take more than a few deep breaths in order to avoid long faces and misty eyes. With men I find that you can be more direct.”

On a positive note, Joan finds that women tend to be supportive, loyal and also protective. “I believe that once you gain a woman’s trust, you can rely on a strong network to support you.  I think it is absolutely essential to have good chemistry in a female office, otherwise, the usual nasties, especially jealousy, raise their head.”

Helga Ellul sees absolutely no difference between the work ethic of males and females. “The main issue,” according to Helga, “is that in our culture family responsibilities still automatically fall under the care of females. This puts carrier-minded women in a negative light, and creates a guilt complex.”

Helga’s stance is also backed up by Dr. Camilleri-Cassar’s study which revealed that most women in paid work, feel overwhelming guilt feelings imposed by the Church and the ideology of motherhood.

“However,” continues Helga, “I am now seeing changes in younger generations where family matters are taken on together by the couple. Male employees are starting to ask for leave to take care of their children when they are sick, or to attend school activities.”

Most of Dr. Camilleri-Cassar’s research respondents said that in order to make time for their family they switched to flexible working hours, or to teaching. Some of them quit their jobs altogether, but their husbands’ work life was virtually undisturbed by fatherhood.  They still “make time to further their studies abroad, work a standard 40-hour week, they even find time for overtime or a second job.” Unsurprisingly, the female respondents were resigned to their husbands’ minimal involvement in care work, and placed a higher value on their husbands’ time than their own.

“As an employee I’ve never encountered discrimination,” continues Helga. “My German owner/boss always stated that what is important is to have the right person for the right job and gender never came into the equation. What is essential is to be committed and professional on the job and also to remain a woman. Women tend to deal with things differently but achieving the same result or more. We are much better at multitasking as it is something that we learn early on in life and have to do all the time. If women are professional and committed in their work, they will earn respect just like men do, but they cannot ask for preferential treatment.”

Helga Ellul has two children and despite her commitment to her career she doesn’t feel that they missed out on having a proper family life. “We definitely gave them quality time,” she says, “and they learned to take on responsibilities on their own, gaining a certain amount of independence at an early stage in their lives. They might not have had a mother and father in the traditional sense, but they had parents who took on whatever role was necessary for them to be happy.”

Ms. Grace Attard, President of The National Council of Women, explains that the attitude of some successful career women can be harmful, because they tend to take their own particular success as an example, and assume that if they managed, then anyone can.  “But these women usually hail from high social backgrounds,” explains Grace, “they can afford private help, and have other forms of support. This is clearly not the situation that shop floor woman find when they try to join the workforce.”

Even though Dr. Camilleri-Cassar’s respondents were graduates, when they opted for reduced hours in the public sector, they felt that the policy was just a subtle way of keeping them from being promoted when competing with their male counterparts, and while their earnings fell to pro-rata, the workload remained the same.

Victor Calleja owns his own business. He has been an employer for over 20 years and claims not to have ever let gender influence his decisions on employment. “It never crossed my mind not to employ someone because of their pregnancy potential, but for small companies like mine, pregnancies could be a major stumbling block. Imagine employing someone who is strategically important to the company, you plan everything around her, and suddenly she’s leaving for weeks on end because she’s pregnant. Small enterprises cannot afford to have inbuilt strategies to cope with such eventualities. I am fully aware that males can leave too but with women you’re adding on a load of imponderables which I suspect make males more employable. This is sad but true.”

Whilst it is politically correct for our Government to present itself as an equal opportunities state, with gender equality legislation having been on the statue book since the 1960s, the truth is that Malta is the only country in Europe where employers pay the full maternity leave benefits without any help from the state.

According to Theresa Bartolo Parnis, co-owner of Accesorize-Monsoon, “it is high time that the government starts to help private businesses bear the financial brunt of maternity leave. It is already very difficult to keep someone’s job available for that long, let alone having to pay out of pocket for an employee’s maternity leave, sometimes also having to pay for her replacement.”

“Whilst maternity might make us question the employability of women,” says Theresa, “I have nothing but positive things to say for the women that I work with.  I am fully aware of the usual ‘bitchy and moody’ stereotype, as indeed we can be, but in our business people are actively encouraged to air their views with one another and then put things behind them and move on.  There is a strong sense of community within the business, especially amongst the women who have worked with the company for a long number of years. I’m not saying that there haven’t been a few uncomfortable exchanges, but in general issues are brought out in the open and dealt with quickly.”

“I find women to be practical, hands on, and very hard working, and since they are usually used to juggling many different things at one go they are not put off by what may seem like a difficult task.”

Mark Farrugia* is also the owner of a small to medium enterprise, who chose to remain anonymous to protect the privacy of his current employees. “Honestly I’m one who believes that women have certain valuable qualities than men don’t, I also believe that in the work place women and men work best as mix and not when segregated to their own sex. I currently employ six men and six women and my wife is a career woman who manages to balance family and work life brilliantly. She has influenced me a lot to get me thinking the way that I do now. Anita Roddick was also one of my first heroes, and I really admire people like Hillary Clinton who hobnob with the “big” boys. But, when it comes down to it, women are still career-handicapped simply because they are the ones that get pregnant. One of my staff members got pregnant last year. She requested her 14 weeks off and another 3 months of unpaid leave. So her pregnancy cost me 14 weeks salary out of pocket, that’s about 3500 Euro, plus the salary of another person to replace her. After giving birth she was reconsidering her decision to come back to work because she had got used to her new life as a stay at home mum, and I have a feeling that she reluctantly returned on a part-time basis because she was required to do so by law. Of course she could get pregnant again very soon and that would mean another 14 weeks of paid leave and an additional salary to replace her once again. So, how does that make employing a woman attractive? How can a woman seriously develop her career on the same level as a man if an employer has to fork out so much money if she becomes pregnant, something that she is in her full rights to do of course.”

In 18 out of 27 EU states as well as in Norway, maternity leave payments are paid by government through public health insurance contributions, and in 4 member states and Iceland, this is paid by the general social security scheme. In Denmark and Slovenia maternity leave falls under the Public Insurance Scheme. In Malta, the Netherlands and the UK, maternity leave is paid directly by employers. However, 92% of the cost of maternity leave in the UK is reimbursed through government funding. Likewise, employers in the Netherlands receive reimbursement through unemployment funds.

Whilst all stakeholders seem to agree that a severe case of gender inequality marks our labour market, there are mixed feelings about the use of gender quotas to readdress the imbalance. The Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations (MCWO) headed by Ms. Renee Laiviera is convinced that the voluntary approach, which did not work overseas, will not work in Malta either, and that gender quotas are necessary “not because women in Malta are less capable than others but because opportunities are not there for them to make use of in spite of their abilities.”  According to the MCWO countries that have made significant progress in bringing about gender equality have had to use quotas. Moreover, Malta needs to make the best use of its resources.

Helga Ellul is personally against the idea of forcing quotas on employers because, “it would be wrong to have women appointed to high positions simply because they wear skirts and high heels. It would be insulting towards professional women who made it without quotas. Instead we should analyse the gap further and find proper ways to promote and encourage women to join the labour market.”

Joan Cachia* is also against the idea of quotas. “It’s like turning the argument on its head and insisting it’s right,” she argues. “Insisting that a woman should hold a position simply because of her gender is the essence of sex discrimination, and I don’t think that there’s some miracle solution that will make a significant difference in a short period of time. It’s a culture change that needs to happen and it’s promising to see that more women are choosing higher education, getting married later, and having children when they are older. I believe that the effects of this shift will seep through over the years.”

Theresa Bartolo Parnis is not a fan of gender quotas because people should get what they work for and deserve based on merit, not because an employer is forced to employ a certain number of women.  “However,” she adds, “I can understand why there was the need to introduce these quotas in other countries,  but I hardly think that this applies in Malta, where the majority of women can find a job if they wanted one.”

But is the issue of quotas about finding a job or about participating at the decision-making levels?

Frances Camilleri-Cassar contends that “while in an ideal world, women should be selected in proportion to their number based on the general principle of democracy, reality is such that this does not happen automatically. Despite the controversy, the quota policy unlocks potential that would otherwise remain dormant, and is indeed necessary in order to override gender prejudice.”

The EU’s motion to extend maternity leave to 20 weeks intends to safeguard the mother’s position in employment, so that female workers cannot be fired from the beginning of their pregnancy to at least six months following the end of their leave. Following maternity leave, women must be entitled to return to their jobs or to “equivalent posts” which means that they are entitled to return to a job with the same pay, professional categories and duties as before. The motion also calls on member states to give fathers the right to fully paid paternity leave of at least two weeks within the period of maternity leave.