The two major trade unions, the General Workers’ Union and Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, have reacted to a statement made by the Malta Employers’ Association, with the unions saying that precarious jobs do exist, and they pose a big problem.

On Thursday, MEA director-general Joseph Farrugia addressed an information session for employer representatives at the Grand Hotel Excelsior to explain the implications of legal notices on ‘banking of hours’ and the status of self-employed people, saying that there are no statistics that effectively measure the extent of abuse, and there has never been any attempt to derive any data on which to design a reasoned instrument.

He said, without substantiation, that statements on what is being described as ‘precarious employment’ are “exaggerated” and are not based on facts. Such statements have generated an overreaction, and have led to unwarranted legislative measures. A case in point, said Mr Farrugia, is the legal notice on self-employment, which cuts across all sectors of the economy rather than addressing specific abusive practices.

Mr Farrugia noted that Malta has a significantly lower rate of self-employed people than the EU average, and the same applies to people having definite period contracts and those employed on a part-time basis.

Moreover, the absolute majority of people working on a part-time basis are doing so out of choice, not because they cannot find alternative employment. In fact, this is one of the leading reasons behind the increase in the female participation rate (from 33% to 40%) over the past few years.

The GWU said in a statement that it is disgusted by the comments made by Mr Farrugia. He went to the extent of saying that those talking about precarious jobs are doing so to damage employers’ reputation, said the union.

And UĦM president Jesmond Bonello told this newspaper: “Workers might not openly talk about problems related to their working conditions and their rights, because they would be scared of losing their job, but it doesn’t mean that the problem doesn’t exist.”

He explained that those who are mostly affected are workers engaged on a self-employed basis, and those working for contractors in the government sector, as well as those working for small companies – an area in which the MEA is not really involved.

“We have come across cases of people working on a self-employed basis who are denied their rights as workers. A case in point was that of a woman whose contract was terminated as soon as she said she was pregnant. Not only was she not given maternity leave, but her contract was terminated, and this wasn’t a remote case.”

There are a number of cases of people who have no choice but to work on a self-employed basis and are therefore denied their rights, said Mr Bonello.

Talking about legal notice 44 of 2012, which the MEA director-general spoke about during his presentation on Thursday, the UĦM president said it addresses self-employed people in the private sector, but not those working in the public sector.

Similarly, the GWU said the provisions laid down in the legal notice do not apply to the government sector, which indicates that the government will continue issuing contracts with “indecent” working conditions that are worse than the minimum conditions stipulated by law.

The union mentioned workers who are not paid proper overtime rates, exploitation of security workers, cleaners and care workers, as well as cases of people engaged on a self-employed basis (and who therefore are denied ‘full-time’ benefits) by government entities such as the Employment and Training Corporation.

Mr Farrugia, on his part, said precarious employment is associated with atypical work, low-paid work, illegal work practices, the black economy, menial/obnoxious work, and work done by illegal migrants.

“But what is it exactly? Different parties use the most convenient definition in particular circumstances to make a case for stricter labour market regulations, and this is what happened with legal notice 44,” he said.

The MEA director-general said the legal notice seeks to remove the grey areas between employment and self-employment, and it sets a list of criteria against which a self-employed person can be considered to be an employee.

People who are not considered to be self-employed will be considered as ‘whole time’ employees with comparable conditions of employment, observed Mr Farrugia, adding that the Director of Labour has discretionary powers to exempt a self-employed person from being considered an employee.

On Thursday, the MEA also said it was worried about cases whereby legal notices are issued without adequate consultation with employers. It turns out that such legal notices would have been instigated by the trade unions, said the association.

One such case is the legal notice affecting security companies. This came into force without consultation with the companies, but discussions with the unions had actually taken place, said the MEA.

But the GWU said the MEA director-general was present for discussions with the union with respect to workers engaged on a self-employed basis, primarily those in the security sector.