In its effort to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Labour Inspectorate, the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) is currently implementing a project aimed to provide the necessary training to its staff in the various fields of the EU labour regulations. This project is co-financed by the European Union under the 2005 Transition Facility Programme and incorporates the execution of a Twinning “Light” contract in partnership with the Regional Government Authority of Tuscany (Tuscany Region) Italy.
The twinning exercise enables a number of DIER professional personnel to attend various training programmes both locally and in Tuscany in order to achieve first hand experience in the practical implementation of EU labour directives. At the same time the twinning exercise serves as a medium for both organisations to share the problems encountered in such implementation. Also in view of the DIER plans to set up its research section, officials involved in this particular project are currently involved in training programmes in this field.
The twinning agreement moreover includes the organisation of six three-day seminars that are open to all those interested and/or involved in the employment and industrial relations scene. The involvement of stakeholders in these seminars reflects the department’s mission to ensure an efficient and democratic implementation of EU regulations at the workplace.
The first seminar that took place in March dealt with the impact of EU labour law on national law. The two experts involved were Professor Michele Palla and Dr Guiseppina Crescenzio of the University of Pisa who interestingly tackled issues such as transfer of businesses, flexicurity, the various types of contracts of service and atypical forms of work among others, while providing an analysis of various case studies. Dr Noel Vella, the Director of Industrial and Employment Relations delivered an interesting discourse on the Maltese experience so far in dealing with these aspects. Among those attending the seminar were trade union officials, employers, human resources managers, lawyers and academics.
The rest of the seminars will be held from April until June; the subjects to be dealt with are Discrimination (part-time, fixed term and posting of workers) and Information (European Works Councils, SE directive, information and consultation); Impact of ECJ Rulings on the interpretation of EU directives; Pitfalls and Problems in Collective Bargaining process; Equal Treatment and Employee Protection (collective redundancies, transfer of business, protection from insolvency).
Interested parties may contact the department for further information and register on telephone number 2122-4245. Participation at these informative seminars is free of charge.