56 police inspectors today opened legal proceedings against the Police Commissioner for not having been paid for overtime hours worked during the CHOGM meeting held in Malta in November last year.
In all, the 56 police inspectors who are seeking legal remedies are saying they are together owed some €70,000.
The Malta Police Association had said that officers were not paid for all hours, but were instead given compensation for a maximum of 10% of their salaries each month. During CHOGM and the Valletta summit, there were officers who worked 150 extra hours, which is 75% more of their normal 46-hour week. The association said that the maximum amount that can be paid in ‘disturbance allowance’ is €170. Some officers were owed more than €2,000 in overtime for extra hours worked during the November events.
To add insult to injury, the lower ranks who were paid for CHOGM and Valletta Summit overtime were not paid the usual Sunday and public holiday allowances. All these manoeuvres, the MPA said, were not helping lift the morale of police officers.
Back in March of this year, MPA had announced it would seek legal advice to seek legal remedies in the future.
The case was filed by Robert Abela.