Workers in the public service might end up in an unfair situation if the government were to start considering experience in other sectors as a criterion in determining grade and pay scale, according to trade union officials.

The comments come in the wake of European Commission legal procedures started against Malta over the case of a teacher employed with the public service after having taught in another member state.

The Commission believes that EU law may have been broken when the teacher’s experience abroad was not given the same weight as working periods performed as a state school teacher in Malta when it came to establishing grade and pay scale.

The government is, however, contesting this interpretation, saying the present system rewards loyalty and does not amount to discrimination.

Josef Bugeja, secretary of the General Workers Union’s Government and Public Entities Section, said that if the Commission won its case it would be unfair on employees in a particular grade who could be leapfrogged by someone coming in from the private sector whose only merit was more years of service rather than more skills or experience.

Mario Sacco, of Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, said that, were the issue just one of experience, the teacher would be right as she would have been the victim of discrimination. But service in a grade was something which the particular employer – in this case the government – used to promote loyalty.

Experience, regardless of where it was gained, was still considered for recruitment purposes by the the government but seniority was granted if one remained with the public sector.

In fact, teachers from the private sector lost their seniority if they started working for the government, a situation which kept many locked within the same sector, he pointed out.

Malta Employers Association director Joe Farrugia said every organisation had the right to set its progression criteria individually, so long as these were not illegal.

He said that when employing someone, employers did sometimes recognise experience by giving a better pay packet but when unions were involved they would ask the employer to raise the pay across the board for the same grade, which in the case of the government would entail a massive expense.

A government spokesman said the European Court of Justice had accepted that employees should be awarded for loyalty in the case of a single employer, as was Malta’s public service.

“As such, this practice is not based on limiting the freedom of movement of workers but rather on the accepted practice of promoting and rewarding employee loyalty,” the spokesman said.