A number of contributors at Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) have received notice of termination of employment after it transpired that the company had not always acted in line with government guidelines on recruitment in public entities, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.
PBS chief executive Andrew Psaila told this newspaper: “PBS was recently informed that the procedure adopted by the company over the past two years, particularly in the recruitment of contributors, was – in the case of recruitment on a contributory basis – not always in line with these guidelines. Therefore PBS is taking the necessary steps to comply with the employment procedures.
“The notice of closure of the contribution concerns only those contributors recruited since May 2003 and who have no working contract with the company. These contributors are under notice until either their position is regularised or a suitable replacement is found.”
He denied claims that this action had to be taken because of ETC legislation. “I should clarify that the ETC and ETC rules have nothing to do with this and we are not in breach of employment legislation as such.”
According to Mr Psaila, there are over a 100 contributors on the PBS books. However, this number varies according to the station’s requirements and the programme schedules.
Mr Psaila explained that the May 2003 guidelines regarding recruitment with public entities stipulate the procedure to be followed by the company when it recruits new employees, irrespective of whether it is on a full time or part-time basis, or any other form of employment.
“The HR operational guidelines, which we are expected to follow, stipulate that when a vacancy arises, PBS has to send an application to the Public Sector Resourcing Directorate at the Office of the Prime Minister, which is responsible to find a suitable person from within the public sector in order to avoid, where possible, new external recruitment.
“If no suitable candidate is found PBS will then send the application to the ETC. PBS is given the go head to publish a call only if the application to ETC fails to produce the desired results.
“In the meantime, we are also reviewing our own procedures in the case of contributors recruited for specific occasions rather than on a regular basis,” Mr Psaila told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
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