Dismissal of workers

In the piece titled No-Fault Dismissal (June 7), Kevin James Fenech writes that, in Malta, “an employer cannot dismiss a person if that person is underperforming”.

This sweeping statement is, I regret to say, inaccurate and evidence of a failure to understand the applicable parameters of Maltese law.

An employer who can demonstrate material underperformance in the face of appropriate counselling and following proper warnings and due process will find that the Industrial Tribunal will give due consideration to finding that the eventual dismissal is justified at law. What the law frowns upon, quite rightly, is an employer invoking loss of confidence sic et simpliciter, without sufficient evidence to back up the loss of confidence.

For the sake of completeness, I would point out that the law does allow simple loss of confidence to be invoked when dismissing one’s butler, for instance, which I am sure will come as a relief to an infinite number of readers.