Three out of every four people with a disability are not treated fairly when interviewing for a job, new research has found.

The research, conducted by the Malta Employers Association, found that disabled people were still at a staggering disadvantage at the workplace.

Morgan Parnis, the CEO of Business Leaders Malta, said the research, which has not yet been fully published, found that 72 per cent of employers felt disabled people were not treated fairly.

Nearly 60 per cent of employers disagreed with implementing legislation aimed at helping disabled people join the labour market.

Mr Morgan was speaking during a panel debate on employment organised by the Malta Employers Association.

Rhoda Garland, the executive director of the National Commission for Persons with Disability, said only five per cent of the disabled were employed - a disappointingly low figure compared to more than 40 per cent across the EU.

MEA president Arthur Muscat insisted employers were not against employing disabled workers but were grappling with genuine barriers to doing so.

He said the association was holding talks with the government and stakeholders to find ways to overcome these obstacles.

General Workers Union chief Josef Bugeja said employers still saw disabled workers as a burden.

"They make all kinds of excuses not to employ more disabled people. In this day and age we shouldn't even be taking about this, we should just be employing many more people with disabilities," he said.