PN removed public holidays falling on weekends from workers.
Documentary fact. The Lawrence Gonzi PN administration enacted legislation in 2005 removing the in-lieu vacation day workers had previously received when a public holiday fell on a Saturday or Sunday. The measure was politically unpopular at the time and was reversed under PL in 2017, restoring the make-up day. Falzon's framing matches the historical record.
Documentary fact. The Lawrence Gonzi PN administration enacted legislation in 2005 removing the in-lieu vacation day workers had previously received when a public holiday fell on a Saturday or Sunday. The measure was politically unpopular at the time and was reversed under PL in 2017, restoring the make-up day. Falzon's framing matches the historical record.
We tested Falzon's claim against the National Holidays and Other Public Holidays Act 2005 amendments under Gonzi, Act XIX of 2017 restoring the in-lieu day under PL, Hansard records of the 2005 and 2017 debates, DIER leave-entitlements guidance and Times of Malta press archive coverage. The methodological question is whether the 2005 PN amendment is properly characterised as removing public holidays from workers, recognising that strictly it removed the substitute day rather than the holiday status itself.
Verdict lands at True because the 2005 Gonzi-era amendment removed the in-lieu day workers had previously received when a public holiday fell on a weekend, with the 2017 PL Act restoring it — and on the everyday political reading workers' audience uses, the day off was indeed taken away. The deep-dive lays out the statutory record, the legal-versus-everyday distinction on 'removed', and the political framing context; this editorial note is methodology only.
Did PN really remove public holidays that fell on weekends from workers
The 2005 PN-era amendment is one of the most durable PL talking points about Maltese labour rights. The factual record is unambiguous on the statute book: the in-lieu day for weekend public holidays was removed in 2005 and restored in 2017. The deep-dive lays out the timeline, the cumulative impact on workers, and the cross-EU comparison.
The policy timeline
The in-lieu day for public holidays falling on weekends has been on Malta's statute book in two regimes: in place pre-2005 and again from 2017 onwards. In between — under the Gonzi PN administration — workers lost the substitute day for 12 years.
The 2005 PN policy change
Under the prior law (pre-2005), Maltese workers received an additional day of leave when a public holiday fell on a Saturday or Sunday — the 'in-lieu' day. The Lawrence Gonzi PN government enacted legislation in 2005 removing this entitlement. Specific points:
- Public holidays that fell on weekends would no longer trigger a make-up day.
- Workers whose normal working pattern excluded weekends therefore lost the practical benefit of the public holiday.
- The measure was framed by PN as productivity-enhancing — keeping standard working days intact regardless of weekend incidence.
- Unions characterised it as removal of an established entitlement.
The cumulative impact on workers, 2005-2016
Malta has 14 public holidays (13 fixed-date plus Good Friday). Under the pre-2005 regime, when any of these fell on a weekend the worker received a make-up day. With 14 holidays and a 2-in-7 chance each of falling on a weekend, the expected average is approximately 4 weekend public holidays per year. Over the 12 years the in-lieu day was removed, that adds up:
| Period | Years | Avg weekend public holidays / year | Cumulative make-up days lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| PN-era removal | 2005 — 2016 | ~4 | ~48 days |
| Pre-2005 (in place) | — | ~4 | 0 — workers got make-up day |
| Post-2017 (restored) | 2017 → | ~4 | 0 — workers got make-up day |
Roughly 48 working days per worker were lost cumulatively across the 12-year PN-era window, on top of any other leave entitlements. The exact count varies year to year depending on which dates fell on weekends, but the order of magnitude — roughly two months' worth of work over the period — captures the scale of the practical impact.
The political and industrial response
The 2005 measure was politically unpopular and contributed to industrial relations difficulties:
- GWU and other unions publicly opposed the measure.
- Multiple Maltese press editorials framed it as a reduction in workers' rights.
- The measure became a recurring election-cycle reference in subsequent campaigns — used by Labour as evidence of PN's labour-rights record.
- Sectoral collective agreements signed after 2005 sometimes included compensating provisions reflecting the loss of the in-lieu day.
The 2017 PL reversal
In its 2017 budget cycle, the PL government restored the in-lieu day for public holidays falling on weekends — bringing back the pre-2005 practice. This was framed by PL as restoring an entitlement PN had stripped. The reversal was politically popular and uncontroversial; no major opposition was mounted to bringing the entitlement back.
Cross-EU comparison
Most EU member states grant workers some form of compensation when a public holiday falls on a weekend, though specific mechanisms vary. The table below shows where the major EU economies sit on the in-lieu-day question.
| Country | Make-up day for weekend public holiday? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland | Yes | Public holidays observed on closest Monday by default |
| UK | Yes | Bank holidays moved to Monday when on weekend |
| Spain | Often | Regional variation; some compensation typical |
| Italy | Sectoral | Determined largely by collective agreements |
| Belgium | Yes | Legal entitlement to compensating day off |
| Malta (post-2017) | Yes | In-lieu day restored after 12-year PN-era gap |
| Germany | Generally no | Worker loses the day if it falls on weekend |
| France | No | Worker loses the day if it falls on weekend |
| Netherlands | No | Worker loses the day if it falls on weekend |
Malta's pre-2005 and post-2017 system aligns with Ireland, the UK, Belgium and the more worker-protective end of the EU spectrum. The 2005-2017 PN-era system aligned Malta with the German/French model where the day is simply lost. Both are defensible policy choices; PN's 2005 move shifted Malta toward the less worker-protective end of the EU range.
Why the framing matters in 2026 context
Falzon's reference to the 2005 measure is a long-standing PL talking point about PN's labour-rights record. It surfaces in election cycles as evidence that PN's 'quality of life' rhetoric (anchored in 2026 on PN's quality-of-life proposals) is contradicted by PN's historical record on workers' entitlements. The specific 2005 measure is documentary fact; the broader political argument it's deployed to support is more contested but has factual underpinning.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. The 2005 PN-era removal of in-lieu days for weekend public holidays is documentary fact, as is the 2017 PL-era restoration. Falzon's framing is historically accurate, with the technical caveat that what was removed was the substitute day rather than the public-holiday status itself. On the everyday political reading — workers stopped getting the day off — the claim holds without qualification.