The Persons with Disability (Employment) Act of 1969 was never intended to apply to employers whose workforces total less than 20. It is misleading of the Times of Malta, therefore, to suggest that such should have been included in our statistics (perhaps with the intent to make up for the gross disability employment shortfall of the employers of ‘over 20’). There is no intention, as the article suggests, that this should “soon change”.

The fact remains that the two per cent quota law compliance rate of employers ‘of over 20’ now only stands at 39 per cent of such employers (admittedly up sharply from 11 per cent one year ago).

This socially-conscious law is about giving work dignity to every citizen without exclusion rather than about numbers or statistics. Each new job affects the rights of a person and of his/her family. It remains government intent that this law must be complied with by all those to whom it applies.