Employers urge government to ‘lead by example’ over disability quota

The Malta Employers’ Association has challenged the government to lead by example and adopt a disability employment quota within the public sector.

“It would be exemplary were the public sector to take the lead, and similar to so many private sector companies, fulfil its obligations in respect of the quota,” the MEA said in a statement.

The MEA has criticised the government’s decision to enforce a long-standing law that states that 2% of the workforce of companies employing over 20 people must be people with a disability.

Employers who fail to meet their quotas now face an annual fine for every disabled person they should be employing, capped at €10,000 per company.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Sunday dismissed the MEA’s opposition as “rigid ideas that must be broken down so as to provide people with a disability with the dignity they deserve”.

However, the MEA retorted that the public sector is “notoriously short” of the quota, and argued that were government to try to fulfil its quota obligations there will not be enough persons with a disability on the ETC register to satisfy the demand.

“Unfortunately the recent amendments to the law, pushed through without any consultations whatsoever with the social partners, contain serious shortcomings which will not help the attainment of the objective set in favour of persons with a disability,” the MEA said.

"Through these amendments ETC seem more intent on collecting so called obligatory ‘contributions’ from employers, to be paid into the Lino Spiteri Foundation rather than creating job opportunities to disabled persons willing to work."

Employers who fail to meet the disability quota have to pay an annual fine of €800 for every person with disability they should be employing by law. The fee will rise to €1,200 in 2016 and €2,400 in 2017. Money generated through the fines go to the Lino Spiteri Foundation that has been set up to help people with disabilities find jobs that match their skills.