EU asks Malta to justify its stand

The European Commission has asked the Maltese government to justify its position on the treatment of definite contract workers in the public sector after initial investigations suggested the state is breaching EU law.

This development can affect the conditions of hundreds of fixed-term workers employed within the public sector.

The investigation started following a complaint lodged by the Association of Local Council Executive Secretaries (ASKLM) with the European Commission.

According to the association, the Maltese government has not fully transposed EU legislation regarding fixed-term contract workers and as such, the rules do not apply to public sector employees.

According to Directive 1999/70/EC, all employees in the EU who have been working on a fixed-term contract for more than four years are entitled to be given an indefinite contract after their fourth year of employment. But when the directive was transposed into Maltese law, a clause was added so that public sector employees would not benefit from it.

The directive was transposed into Maltese law by means of legal notice 429 of 2002 dealing with fixed-term contracts of service. The provisions were incorporated into the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

Yet, section 7(5), included by the Maltese lawmakers, explicitly excludes public sector employees by laying down that "further to the provisions of article 48 of the Act, this regulation shall not be applicable to employment in the public sector".

According to ASKLM this clause is ultra vires and does not reflect the scope of the directive.

Sources told The Times that before complaining to the Commission, the association held consultations with MEPs Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat and had tried to remedy the issue with the government through an intervention by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin with the minister responsible for employment relations, Louis Galea.

The only response received from Dr Galea's ministry was last November when the minister said he would seek advice from the Cabinet over the issue.

Preliminary investigations by the Commission indicated that the government will have to change the law if it did not want to face legal proceedings by the EU.

In a letter to ASKLM, Ronaldo Gonzalez Dorrego, from the Commission's directorate general responsible for employment and social affairs, said the EU directive did not exclude the public sector.

"All those who are considered as workers according to the definition at law, collective agreements or practice in the member state are to be covered. Consequently, the directive is applicable also to contractual workers in the public sector in Malta so long as these are considered as workers," he wrote.

The Commission informed the association that the first preliminary assessment of the complaint was completed and the Maltese authorities have been asked for further clarifications.