Companies sometimes have fluctuating work backlog due to sudden business expansion, or need replacements until an employee taking maternity leave returns to work. Such situations could create a need for an immediate temporary employment of a worker to fill up the vacancy. Elaine Attard finds out more
Temps who are often part of ‘temping agencies’ help fulfill this need by offering a pool of multi-skilled people who can respond immediately to the industry’s vacant positions.
Temporary jobs are a novel concept in Malta and many times they are frowned upon because they may pose threats to those involved in employment. Temporary workers are paid less (14% less on average) and receive less training and find it often very difficult to move to a regular job. However jobs offered by temping agencies may also offer some opportunities.
Following an Impact Assessment Report on the EU Proposals Concerning Maternity and Paternity Leave, drawn up by the Malta Business Bureau, the Malta Chamber Human Resources and Social Policy Committee drew up a position paper regarding Temporary Agency Workers Regulations, with the Employment and Industrial Relations Act of 2010.
In the reality of the current economic climate which dictates the need for a more structured approach towards reconciling work and family life, the MBB strongly advocates the need to address work-life balance from a supply-side perspective, and proposed the idea of cultivating a better structure for temping agencies to flourish and fulfill the needs of the job market.
“We need to address the structural lack of accessible and affordable child-care facilities for child-rearing women as well as the inception of a temping work culture to facilitate the replacement on temporary arrangements of valued female personnel when these are unavailable at the workplace due to maternity leave,” MBB CEO Joe Tanti, had said before the European Union was contemplating on the introduction of a maternity leave extension, last year.
In the position paper, drawn up by the Malta Chamber Human Resources and Social Policy Committee presented to the Chamber’s management board in reaction to the draft legal notice Temporary Agency Workers Regulations, new forms of work organisation and a greater diversity of contractual arrangements for workers and businesses, which would contribute towards a more adaptable workforce, were considered.
This novel concept of work organisation is considered to be based on the principles of ‘flexicurity’, where temporary contracts will assist to strike a balance between flexibility and security in the labour market and help both workers and employers seize the opportunities offered by a dynamic labour force.
Additionally, it is believed that temporary agency work meets the undertaking’s needs for flexibility in the labour market, as well as the employees’ need to reconcile and combine professional and family responsibilities. This is a key element in tackling the challenge of attracting, integrating and retaining inactive individuals, especially women, to the labour market.
For example, this may be the first step into employment for women returning to the workplace after child bearing, maternity leave and child upbringing.
The position paper was drawn up when the maternity leave directive was being reviewed a few months ago. The committee reiterated that temporary work agencies may also provide work to people who need a form of employment that allows them to balance responsibilities or pursue other interests.
Temporary agency workers allow employers to meet the extra demand for labour during busier periods. Such assignments cover a variety of business needs including new product lines or services, seasonal fluctuations, and staff absenteeism such as long-term sick leave or maternity leave.
The Confederation of British Industries (CBI) in the UK stated that “most large firms use agencies to meet temporary or unexpected upturns in demand, while small firms usually use them to cover for absence.”
Recommendations
and conclusions
In their recommendations and conclusions, the committee members agreed with the implementation of the legal notice as they believe that the legislation will have a favourable effect on employment rates, as well as to facilitate entry and re-entry in the labour market for job-seekers, as well as temporary and long-term inactive individuals.
Regarding seasonality and periods of excessive demands, the committee viewed temporary work as a vital source of both employment opportunities and commercial flexibility, especially due to seasonality and irregular excessive demands.
Seasonal demands mostly affect the tertiary sector or the services sector of the economy, and are typically predictable. Furthermore, excessive demands are usually related to the secondary or the manufacturing sector, mainly dealing with a substantial increase in demand, such as when companies are responding to contract tendering.
With regards to flexibility, the committee acknowledges that temporary skills gap arise due to various circumstances, such as maternity leave, career breaks, sabbaticals, as well as long-term sickness. At times such situations are brought up by employees requesting to accompany their partners abroad and thus this legislation could be considered as a family friendly measure. In most cases these absences are usually of a defined period of time.
In such cases, companies would prefer to engage temporary labourers rather than lose out on the experience of their full timers as they would have engaged new employees due to their absence.
The committee considered that as mentioned in the EU Directive 2008/104/EC, this legislation should not affect the relations between the social partners, including the right to negotiate and conclude collective agreements in accordance with national law.
The committee agrees that the basic working and employment conditions applicable to temporary agency workers regarding health and safety at the workplace should be equal to those which would apply to such workers as though they were recruited by the employer to occupy the same job.
The committee suggested that after two years of enactment of this legal notice, the local authorities should, after consulting the social partners in accordance with national legislation, collective agreements and practices, review any parts of this legislation, and where appropriate, implement the necessary amendments. They also suggested that appropriate statistics are compiled to measure the considerable importance of this novel form of work arrangement.
In addition, they think that in order to ensure appropriate implementation of the legal notice, the committee encourages that a proper information campaign is organised. This would allow user undertakings, temporary agency workers as well as temporary workers agencies to identify and comply with their obligations. Furthermore, it is suggested that this campaign should focus on issues related to the employment conditions referred to in this legal notice.
This process to implement this legal framework regulated temp work is still in its consultation phase. Both the Malta Business Bureau and the committee hope that it is taken on board by the government soon.
Malta Chamber of Commerce
– Ray Muscat
Malta Chamber of Commerce General Director Ray Muscat said, "A wider diversity of working arrangements for employees and employers, will contribute towards a more adaptable workforce. The concept of temping agencies is a novel one and is based on the principles of flexicurity, whereby temporary engagements will assist in reaching a better balance between flexibility and security in the labour market. This would undoubtedly help both employees and employers to address opportunities that arise due to a dynamic labour force.”
“Temporary agency work meets an enterprise's needs for flexibility, as well as the need of employees to reconcile their professional responsibilities and career aspirations with their family life. This is seen to be a key element in tackling the challenge of attracting, integrating and retaining women in the labour market. Further, temporary contracts would encourage more women to return to the labour market after maternity leave and upbringing of children,” he added.
“Any legislation supporting temporary arrangements should serve as an agent of change in the promotion of new forms of work," he went on.
Malta Business Bureau
– Joe Tanti
Malta Business Bureau CEO, Joe Tanti said, “In the debate on the extension of the maternity leave directive, we had strongly argued that the reality of the current economic climate dictates the need for a more structured approach towards reconciling work and family life. In this regard the MBB supports the need to address work-life balance from a supply-side perspective. One of the measures we had recommended back then
was for the inception of a temping work culture to facilitate the replacement on temporary arrangements of valued female personnel when these are unavailable at the workplace due to maternity leave.”
“However this goes further. It is by providing better-structured and affordable support services such as temping agencies that we can ensure a healthy mix of skilled males and females truly providing equal opportunities for both genders. This is the much needed flexibility to maintain a competitive Maltese labour market.” explained Mr Tanti