Updated 2.55pm with ministry response

Teachers are facing a raft of payment issues, with many being overpaid and asked to pay the money back, teachers' unions confirmed on Friday. 

Since Thursday, both the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the Union of Professional Teachers (UPE) have received complaints from their members after receiving incorrect payments.

The issues seem to stem from changes to teacher pay brought in with the new sectoral agreement signed between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) in July.

The agreement included revised starting salaries, a one-off payment and increased allowances backdated and paid in arrears, among other measures.

But since Thursday, teachers have reported issues receiving payments agreed upon by the deal, with many saying they received incorrect amounts, while others received calls from government officials asking them to pay back the overpaid sums.

My pay 'didn't make any sense'

One teacher told Times of Malta she was alerted to discrepancies in her pay after receiving more than €13,000, which “didn't make any sense at all” as a colleague of hers who had been teaching a year longer received only €9,000. 

In total, she received over €3,300 in arrears, including almost €1,000 for having taught for more than 16 years - and more than €2,300 for teaching for over 17 years.

One teacher was left confused after receiving arrears that did not make sense to her.

“I have tried calling the department but haven't heard anything. I also emailed them. At this point I'm the one chasing them to return their money; it is an absolute embarrassment from their end,” she said.  

The teacher added that teachers had been “left in the dark” after receiving no guidance on how their payments would be calculated. 

“As usual, teachers are not treated with the respect their profession deserves," she said.

MUT president Marco Bonnici said that while “the majority” of state schoolteachers received their adjustments according to the agreement, “there are still some individuals and groups who have not received the adjustments.”

“We are informed – and have been in communication with the education ministry – that there are still some individuals and groups who have not received the adjustments," Bonnici said, pointing to “errors” which he said were “being addressed by the ministry.”

Calling the situation “complicated”, he said the union was pressuring the ministry to respond to teachers' calls for clarification.

Bonnici said that while “few” teachers had reported errors so far, many had contacted the ministry “to understand what they received.”

He added the union was confident the issues would be resolved by the end of the year.

'Inundated' with teachers complaints

But Union of Professional Teachers (UPE) executive head Graham Sansone suggested the problem was larger than one confined to a few teachers, saying the union had been “inundated” with complaints from its circa 3,500 members.

“From what we’re noticing, the majority of arrears payments are incorrect,” he said.

Sansone said the union was helping its members to work out accurate payments due.

Stressing the government was “already recalling significant amounts of money,” Sansone said teachers had reported receiving calls from government officials asking them to pay back up to €5,000.

Ministry acknowledges errors

On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the education ministry said while the “majority” of educators had received their pay adjustments “smoothly”, the ministry acknowledged “some discrepancies occurred, resulting in incorrect payment amounts for a limited number of individuals.” 

The spokesperson said the ministry had “proactively reached out to educators impacted by overpayments to ensure clarity and transparency.” 

He added that a dedicated email address - info.edu.agreement@gov.mt - had been set up to handle enquiries related to teacher payments.

'Ask for a breakdown'

Shadow Education Secretary Justin Schembri said he had been contacted by affected teachers, but noted it was difficult to calculate payments en mass as “all were personalised” due to provisions of the sectoral agreement.

The agreement factors in how many years a teacher has been active, with additional allowances included for those who have been teaching more than 20 years.

Schembri said that in one case, however, two Learning Support Educators (LSEs) who joined the same year had been paid a difference of €5,000.

He warned that many teachers might not know if their calculations were correct, however, noting some could be happy to receive an additional payment despite it potentially not being equal to the full amount owed.

“I advise teachers to send questions to the salary department asking for a breakdown; this is the only way to avoid it,” he said.

Teachers asked to email queries

A circular issued to educators earlier on Friday after Times of Malta reported the issue, did not acknowledge if there were errors in the system.

It instead invited educators with "questions about your individual outcome" to contact the education ministry by email if they have any questions.

Teachers Times of Malta spoke to complained of being paid too much or too little, while others expressed their confusion at payslips seeming to contain contradictory or inaccurate figures. Nearly all were unwilling to speak openly about the issue, however.

As of last month, teachers must now get written permission before speaking to the media and have to tell their bosses what they intend to speak about.

The move has attracted criticism from educators and politicians, with Sansone calling the rules "unheard of" and independent candidate and academic Arnold Cassola branding them "fascist".

Have you been affected by the payment issues discussed in this article? If so, contact newsroom@timesofmalta.com.