GRTU urges ‘hand-holding’ from government over disability quota

The Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) has urged the government to adopt a “hand-holding” approach to employers who haven’t yet met the national disability employment quota.

“The implementation of this legislation could have been handled far better,” the GRTU said in a statement. “We are disappointed that the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) did not feel the need to consult with social partners before reactivating the law. We expected them to place greater emphasis on the several incentives already available to positively encourage employment and assist them directly in finding an individual that matched their employment needs.”

The law that 2% of the workforce of companies employing over 20 people must be composed of disabled people has technically been in place since 1967. However, its lax implementation by employers and the persistently high unemployment rate among disabled people prompted the government to enforce it as of 2015.

Businesses who fail to meet their quotas now face a fine of €1,200 for every disabled person they should be employing by law. The fine will rise to €2,400 in 2017 and is capped at €10,000 per company. The money generated through such fines go to the Lino Spiteri Foundation, that has been set up to help match disabled people with jobs that match their skills.

As of 19 January, 40% of eligible private companies are now meeting the quota.

However, the GRTU has joined the Malta Employers’ Association in criticising the way the law has been implanted so far.    

“Sending out invoices to employers without proper consultation and hand-holding for implementation would only result in counter-productive exercise to the message of social inclusion,” it said. “This would portray the need to integrate people with disability as a burden or a form of bill whereas the spirit should be one of understanding business needs and matching the capabilities and potential persons of disability with specific job roles, just as in any other case.”

The GRTU welcomed the ETC’s decision to waive the contributions due by non-compliant employers should they meet the disability quota.

“Employing a person with disability should never become a burden on the enterprise and the government should do its utmost through a tailor-made approach, hand-holding and the use of support schemes to facilitate the process.”