Over the past years, the labour market policies introduced by the Government have incentivised people to enter in employment while raising household incomes. These incentives include the free childcare, the tax refunds and the In-work Benefit scheme. In the 2022 Budget presented by the Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana, another measure was announced to incentivise workers to work in specific sectors with atypical time schedules. All the private sector employees who in the year 2022, worked shifts, on weekends or after 6pm and whose basic salary does not exceed €20,000 per year, will now benefit from an In-Work Benefit of €150 (payments to be made in December). The sectors included in this scheme are the accommodation and food services, the administrative and support services, the manufacturing, the transport and storage, and the wholesale and retail trade. Around 40,000 employees will benefit from this scheme which will leave around €6 million in the Maltese economy. In order to implement this budget measure, Jobsplus is conducting a data collection exercise with all relevant employers in order to identify employees that have been working with the same employer for at least six months at atypical hours in the aforementioned sectors.
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