The current debate in parliament on enforcing the employment of persons with disability to a minimum of two per cent of the workforce of each employer, subject to a penalty of €2,400 per person per year, capped at €10,000 per year per employer for shortfalls on the quota, is a tirade of stereotyping of employers and demeaning towards persons with disability.
To begin with, many persons with disability have been active in the workforce for years, sometimes without their employers knowing that they have a disability. Some may have more obvious physical disabilities but hold cognitively-demanding jobs and are greatly respected as professionals in their field. To put a price on choosing not to employ these people diminishes greatly the value they contribute at the workplace.
Persons with disability should not be defined by their disability. It begs the question: why are we having a parliamentary debate on the employment of persons with disability rather than the employment of persons who are hard to employ for a variety of reasons.
Some of these people happen to have a disability that renders their employment challenging but there is a myriad of reasons as to why a significant portion of the population is hard to employ.
On the other hand, there are many who employ people who have significant challenges, whether in the form of a disability, mental health issues, alcohol and drug-related problems, gambling addictions, problems arising from dysfunctional social backgrounds and poor life choices, severe educational deficits, particular family situations resulting from illness and death as well as residual symptoms of traumas of all sorts.
For the average employer, providing long-term employment to people with all sorts of issues is the order of the day. Many of these issues have become more pronounced over the past year due to the pandemic.
The debate in parliament is a tirade of stereotyping of employers and demeaning towards persons with disability- Marisa Xuereb
Yet, the majority of employers have retained their employees, even if their revenues dwindled and their employees became less productive as a result of increased mental fragility and a more pronounced manifestation of their perpetual challenges.
It is ironic that, at the height of all this, we get a highly stereotypical characterisation of employers with heavy wallets, large watches and expensive cufflinks who make millions in turnover and “take a lot from this country”, in parliament of all places.
It is high time we stop legislating for the gluttonous minority and start legislating for the vast majority of employers who are running small- and medium-sized business in very challenging circumstances and who provide employment to a large portion of our highly diverse population.
Let us be clear: anyone employing less than 250 employees is an SME.
There are just over 100 companies in Malta employing more than that, hence, classified as large. An annual contribution capped at €10,000 hits SMEs much harder than large employers. Importantly, it will not change the fortunes of those persons with disability who are hardest to employ.
What we should be talking about at the moment is how to reduce the vulnerability of people who are already hard to employ as the work of world becomes more digitalised going forward.
It is a fact that some jobs will cease to exist in the coming years and those who are expected to be most affected are the ones having very limited skill sets.
How do we equip people who are already struggling with securing employment with new skills that would make them more employable in future? Many persons with disability have been successfully integrated into the workforce over the past years through significant training efforts. It is these efforts that should be attracting the attention of our legislators and given publicity in our media.
Marisa Xuereb, president, Chamber of Commerce