Call for NI revision for employers
The government should remove the minimum threshold for employers' national contributions - as it did for employees, according to several participants at a workshop organised by the Centre of Labour Studies of the University of Malta, in collaboration...
The government should remove the minimum threshold for employers' national contributions - as it did for employees, according to several participants at a workshop organised by the Centre of Labour Studies of the University of Malta, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
The government last year removed the minimum NI contribution for part-time workers as it was proving to be a disincentive for those with a low income. However, it did not do the same for employers, discouraging them from taking on part-timers, at a time when efforts are being made to encourage women back to the workplace who would benefit from these opportunities.
A number of topics were raised during the workshop, which was attended by academics and by representatives of trade unions and employers' associations, all of whom were speaking in their personal capacities.
The points raised will be used by the Centre of Labour Studies to draw up a pre-election position paper. The lack of data hampered informed debate on many topics. For example, there is no information on what proportion of contracts are definite, nor of whether this proportion is growing. Likewise, there is no data on how many definite contracts get renewed or evolve automatically to indefinite contracts once four years are up.
Definite contracts can actually be attractive - especially to young, highly qualified individuals who prefer to be able to move to more lucrative pastures. However, the lack of security weighs heavily on those who have commitments, such as a house loan, trade unionist Michael Parnis pointed out.
In most topics, the official policy was not the problem: Abuse was. Loopholes in things like probation are regularly exploited to keep employees on tenterhooks and to hire and fire outside the protection offered by the law.
The abuse extends to the employment of illegal workers, who were often exploited, being paid less than the minimum wage and afforded no employment rights or protection. Joe Farrugia (of the Employers' Association) proposed that a temporary guest-worker status be created, which would enable workers to be brought in to meet the needs of the growing economy, without creating the potential social upheaval of having them settle here permanently.
Another inescapable reality is that policies established to protect workers could end up raising costs for employers, which would result in less competitiveness and less job creation.
"Let us not fool ourselves. The cost of things like parental leave is not borne by the employer. It is worked into the price of the product or service, which affects the viability of the company concerned," employer Arthur Muscat said.
"If the government wants such benefits then it should subsidise them."
Many of the participants expressed concern at the fact that around one in five school leavers are functionally illiterate. Anna Borg of the Employment and Training Corporation asked whether there was a need to introduce a vocational route earlier in the secondary school system. This led to a wide discussion on the need for vocational qualifications.
The topic almost inevitably turned to the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development and how it could function under its new chairman Sonny Portelli.
There is considerable mystery over who nominated Mr Portelli. The Prime Minister told each of the delegations separately that he had been nominated by a member organisation - but none of those represented at the workshop had nominated him or knew who had.
They did, however, stress that they were all in favour of his appointment, looking forward to the MCESD resuming its important role in consultation, especially on the basis of minority reports.
"It is very dangerous to insist on consensus," Mr Farrugia said.
"What we should go for is convergence."
See also Proposals for the Budget in last week's The Times Business at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/sections/business/image_library/200705/20070510_B004.pdf
The government last year removed the minimum NI contribution for part-time workers as it was proving to be a disincentive for those with a low income. However, it did not do the same for employers, discouraging them from taking on part-timers, at a time when efforts are being made to encourage women back to the workplace who would benefit from these opportunities.
A number of topics were raised during the workshop, which was attended by academics and by representatives of trade unions and employers' associations, all of whom were speaking in their personal capacities.
The points raised will be used by the Centre of Labour Studies to draw up a pre-election position paper. The lack of data hampered informed debate on many topics. For example, there is no information on what proportion of contracts are definite, nor of whether this proportion is growing. Likewise, there is no data on how many definite contracts get renewed or evolve automatically to indefinite contracts once four years are up.
Definite contracts can actually be attractive - especially to young, highly qualified individuals who prefer to be able to move to more lucrative pastures. However, the lack of security weighs heavily on those who have commitments, such as a house loan, trade unionist Michael Parnis pointed out.
In most topics, the official policy was not the problem: Abuse was. Loopholes in things like probation are regularly exploited to keep employees on tenterhooks and to hire and fire outside the protection offered by the law.
The abuse extends to the employment of illegal workers, who were often exploited, being paid less than the minimum wage and afforded no employment rights or protection. Joe Farrugia (of the Employers' Association) proposed that a temporary guest-worker status be created, which would enable workers to be brought in to meet the needs of the growing economy, without creating the potential social upheaval of having them settle here permanently.
Another inescapable reality is that policies established to protect workers could end up raising costs for employers, which would result in less competitiveness and less job creation.
"Let us not fool ourselves. The cost of things like parental leave is not borne by the employer. It is worked into the price of the product or service, which affects the viability of the company concerned," employer Arthur Muscat said.
"If the government wants such benefits then it should subsidise them."
Many of the participants expressed concern at the fact that around one in five school leavers are functionally illiterate. Anna Borg of the Employment and Training Corporation asked whether there was a need to introduce a vocational route earlier in the secondary school system. This led to a wide discussion on the need for vocational qualifications.
The topic almost inevitably turned to the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development and how it could function under its new chairman Sonny Portelli.
There is considerable mystery over who nominated Mr Portelli. The Prime Minister told each of the delegations separately that he had been nominated by a member organisation - but none of those represented at the workshop had nominated him or knew who had.
They did, however, stress that they were all in favour of his appointment, looking forward to the MCESD resuming its important role in consultation, especially on the basis of minority reports.
"It is very dangerous to insist on consensus," Mr Farrugia said.
"What we should go for is convergence."
See also Proposals for the Budget in last week's The Times Business at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/sections/business/image_library/200705/20070510_B004.pdf