The criteria relating to career progression used by the public service may be discriminatory, according to the European Commission, which has started legal action against the island over the issue.
The government, however, dismissed the charge saying “loyalty” was being rewarded as allowed by EU law.
Brussels has sent a letter of formal notice – the first in a three-pronged legal procedure – over the case of a teacher employed with Malta’s public service after teaching in another member state. In the letter, the Commission said working experience acquired as a teacher in another member state was not being taken into account in the same way as working periods performed as a teacher in the Maltese educational sector.
The Commission argues the government must also consider this “foreign” experience when determining the teacher’s salary and grade. Otherwise, it might amount to “an obstacle to the freedom of movement of workers”.
The government is contesting this interpretation. A spokesman explained that Malta’s public service made a distinction between “service in a grade” (which is applied for career advancement and refers specifically to service within the Public Service of Malta) and “experience” (which in Malta is applied solely to recruitment and refers to any experience in Malta and any other EU member state).
“In the public service, career progression to a higher salary scale within the same grade, or to a higher grade, is based on ‘service in a grade’ and as such only considers the experience gained within the Maltese public service,” the spokesman said.
Malta has already informed the Commission that the qualifications for career advancement, based on “service in a grade”, were intended to reward employee loyalty and encourage staff to develop their career within the public service.
“Such practices have already been accepted by the European Court of Justice, particularly in its Schöning-judgment and Köbler-judgment, where the Court accepted the argument of rewarding employee loyalty in the case of a single employer, as is the public service of Malta.”
The government spokesman said that contrary to the Commission’s claim, this practice was not based on limiting workers’ freedom of movement but rather on the accepted practice of promoting and rewarding employee loyalty. “It is, therefore, the view of the government that all candidates are placed on an equal footing, regardless of the EU member state they come from.”
Commission sources said it was expecting the government’s official reply to its letter of formal notice by mid-April. “We will take the issue from there,” a Commission official said.
“After analysing the arguments brought forward by the Maltese government our services will decide on whether or not to proceed further,” he said.