Author: SME Chamber

Last Friday the Ministry for Education and Employment launched the National Employment
Policy, a policy endorsed by social partners, amongst which the GRTU, following
a consultation that the Ministry itself through the Jobs+ Committee and MCESD
carried out.

The policy is a very serious
one with measures addressing specific gaps in the current system. It is aimed
at both improving the situation for the employers and employees as well as
addressing long standing issues of abuses in the welfare system and the black
economy. The policy is in fact divided into 10 concrete measures. These
include:            

     –
Schemes for part-subsidised employment such as the Employment Aid Programme and
part-subsidised training such as the Training Aid Framework. These would remain
open for
a longer period.

–    Those
refusing employment opportunities or insisting on 'non-existent' vacancies will
no longer receive unemployment benefits.

–    Investment
in an IT system at ETC

–    More
flexibility at the workplace

A detailed
presentation was made by Mr Clyde Caruana, Chairperson of the Job+ Committee,
who outlined a number of statistics that show clearly where the gaps we have in
our employment system emanate from. Mr Caruana said that the level of
productivity and the level of investment in machinery and training needs to
increase. Malta stands second highest with the amount of students stopping
education at the secondary level, 5th highest in employers  finding difficulty to find skilled
individuals and 3rd highest in employers 
finding difficulty to find un-skilled individuals. The gap between the
pay of the unskilled and the skilled has widened and is continuing to widen.
Currently we have a significant amount of foreigners working in Malta that are
filling jobs that the Maltese are not skilled enough to do or do not want to
do.

Another
initiative announced was that Government would start paying the full maternity
leave in exchange for an equivalent increase in the social security
contribution paid by employers for each of their workers. The aim is to have a
level playing field and to distribute the cost of this measure among a bigger
pool of employers. This measure was intended to make it easier for women to
avail themselves of maternity leave. GRTU found this proposal interesting
however we would like to see how this will be worked out in practice and ensure
that the increase in social security does not exceed the amount that would be
paid by an employer during maternity leave. Having said this it would diminish
one of a number of challenges small businesses face when one of their employees
goes out on maternity leave.

Therefore you are invited
to a Consultation Session entitled "The Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership – Making Trade work for you" on 

Date: Tuesday, April 29,
2014

Time: 2 pm till 4 pm

Venue: Europe House, 254 St
Paul's Street, Valletta.

Proceedings will be as
follows:

2
pm                Registration

2:15
pm           Presentation
by Mr Iman Schembri (Director General, Economic Policy Department) and Mr David
Sammut (Director, International Economics Relations, Economic Policy
Department) from the Ministry for Finance.

3
pm                Question
& Answer time

All those wishing to
participate are kindly requested to register at: by
Monday, April 28.

The Traineeship scheme is intended to provide job seekers
with initial vocational training (pre-employment training) that will help them
to obtain the knowledge, skills and competence required to find and secure
employment. From an employers' perspective the scheme is also intended to help
them find suitably competent employees.

Programmes on offer:   

Sales
Techniques and Customer Care (9.5 weeks)

Who should participate?

Eligible
individuals would be 16 years of age and older, who hold at least MQF level 2
qualifications in Mathematics, English and Maltese Language and speak fluent
Maltese and English. This course is targeted at those persons who wish to work
in the retail industry for the very first time.

Off-the-job training:

Trainees
will attend the following course/s deliver

ed by
the Corporation:

1. Customer Care

Duration of course: 12 hours

2.     Vocational
Education and Training Award in Principles of Sales Techniques

Duration of course: 45 hours

Handyman/ Maintenance (32 weeks)

Who should participate?

This
course is intended for individuals who are 16 years of age and older, who
ideally have MQF level 1 qualification in Mathematics, Maltese and English
Literacy and speak fluent Maltese and English. This course is targeted at those
persons who wish to work as a Maintenance Man /Handyman.

Training

The
Traineeship is based on a dual system of vocational training, providing a
combination of theoretical knowledge supplemented by related hands-on practical
training.

Typically
during any week, a trainee will attend on-the-job training for four days with
an assigned employer – on the fifth day trainee will attend off-the-job,
theoretical training organised by the Corporation.

Office
Procedures (15 weeks)

Who should participate?

This
course is intended for individuals who are 16 years of age and older, who hold
at least three passes at O' Level standard including Mathematics, English and
Maltese Language and speak fluent Maltese and English. This course is targeted
at those persons who wish to work in an office environment.

Off-the-job training:

Trainees
will attend the following course/s delivered by the Corporation:

Vocational
Education and Training Award in Office Procedures

Duration
of course: 120 hours

Cleaning
attendant (11 weeks)

Who should participate?

This
programme is aimed at those persons aged 16 and over, who speak fluent Maltese
and English and wish to work in the cleaning industry

Off-the-job training:

Trainees
will attend the following course/s delivered by the Corporation: Vocational
Education and Training Award for Cleaning Attendants

Duration
of course: 72 hours

Traineeship offers a mix of on-the-job (80%) and off-the-job (20%)
training.

Grant – National Minimum wage split between trainee (80%) and
employer (20%)

This scheme has just launched and applications will be received till
the end of this month. Programmes will run during remaining months of this
year.

For more detailed guidelines and application forms please use this
link:

http://etc.gov.mt/Page/51/Traineeships-jobseekers.aspx

Voting by
persons who shall be abroad or hospitalized on polling day – 24th  May 2014 – The Electoral
Commission informs those voters who shall be abroad or hospitalized on polling
day,  Saturday, 24th May, 2014, that they
may make a declaration on oath before the Electoral Commissioners so that they
may cast their vote at the Naxxar Counting Complex on Saturday, 17th May,
2014. 

This declaration on oath shall be
made at the Office of the Electoral Commission, Evans Building, Merchants
Street, Valletta, or at the Identity Cards Office, St. Francis Square, Rabat,
Gozo,  by not later than noon of Friday,
16th May, 2014,  according to the hours
indicated below:

 Monday
to Friday:                  from 8.00 am
to 2.00 pm and from 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm

Saturdays
and Sundays:         from 8.00 am to 1.00
pm

When the
person calls to make the sworn declaration it is important that he/she brings
his/her identity or residence card, and that on the day of advanced voting
(17/05/2014) he/she must be in possession of the voting document as, without
it, no one shall be allowed to vote.

Travel
arrangements are being made for eligible voters residing abroad to enable them
to vote in Malta at the forthcoming European Parliament Election on 24^th May 2014.

For this
purpose, Air Malta plc will be making available return air tickets on its services
at a charge of €35, inclusive of taxes and other charges, to persons who are
eligible to vote in Malta at the forthcoming European Parliament
Election.  Reservations may be made at the Air Malta Call Centre on this specific
number (+356) 2599 1230 from tomorrow 25^th April at 08:00am. The centre will be open
between Monday to Saturday from 0800-2100hrs and on Sunday from 0800-1700hrs.

Inbound travel to Malta is possible from 14^th May to 24^th May 2014 and
return travel is from 24^th May to 1^st June 2014. Those persons who will opt for early voting on the 17^th May can travel
to Malta from 14^th May and may return as of the 17^th May and not later than 1^st June 2014.
Those voting early have to apply at the electoral commission by latest noon on
Friday 16^th May 2014.

These travel
arrangements are available for:

eligible voters, including those
married to foreigners, studying, working or undergoing medical treatment
abroad; and

their dependents. A dependent means;

the child or step-child of such
person under the age of eighteen years;

the spouse of such a person.

Persons to whom
this directive applies must be eligible voters whose name appears in the
Electoral Register published within five days from the publication of the
General Election Writ.

The Electoral
Commission reminds persons who, on the 31st March, 2014, were qualified to be
registered as voters, of the importance of verifying that their name and
particulars have been included in the revised electoral register published on the
7th April, 2014.

Persons
who obtained Maltese Citizenship through naturalization or registration and
certified dual nationals are entitled to be registered as voters in this
register if, on the 31st March, 2014, they had the necessary qualifications in accordance
with the Constitution of Malta and the General Elections Act (Chap. 354).  These persons are urged to verify their
inclusion in this Electoral Register.

Any
person whose name has not been included in this register, or whose particulars
appearing in the Register need to be corrected, may appeal to the revising
officer up to Monday, 28th April, 2014, to have his/her name included in this
register, notwithstanding that no prior application may have been made to the
Commission for such purpose.  

Further information on the
electoral procedure can be found at: www.electoral.gov.mt

A survey
concerning family businesses is being circulated for your perusal and we
encourage all family businesses to fill it in so that Malta in line with the
other EU countries can start compiling statistical information about family
businesses.

This is
an EU level survey conducted by the European Family Businesses (EFB) which
together with KPMG, are launching the 2nd Family Business Barometer to track
business trends within the family business community. Last year EFB and KPMG
successfully published the first Family Business Barometer in Europe. The 1st
edition received significant media coverage across Europe and the report proved
to be highly insightful but unfortunately Malta was not represented at that
time.

The Barometer will seek to
gauge your views and opinions on specific issues and topics to aid in a better
understanding of family business in 19 Member States of the European Union.
Through your insight the organisation hopes to strengthen the voice of family
businesses throughout Europe.

The Barometer will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Please use the following link to complete the Barometer: http://xs.motivaction.nl/s.asp?u=4BDC2DC689162436D94AB9C9625DEFCC51B81194&l=36

GRTU Council Member Ms Joan Haber, President of the Crafts
Sector, and Executive Abigail Mamo have this week attended the official launch
of the youth guarantee in Malta. It is aimed that the initiative will reach
2000 Youths especially those referred to as NEETs (not in education and
employment) and youths that risk falling into this definition.

As part of the extended scheme, revision classes for those students who get low grades in
their O'Levels for the core subjects (Maths, English, Physics and Maltese) will
be provided free of charge during the summer months.  In a similar scheme,
students at MCAST who didn't succeed their May/June examinations will also be given revision classes. The scope
of these initiatives is to make sure that no youths drop out early, which would
leave them without the necessary skills to find good employment later on.

The Ministry
for Education and Employment, together with Jobs+, will also be embarking on an extension of the 'Alternative
Learning  Programme', which will provide additional training in ICT and soft skills – crucial attributes in order
to find quality employment.

Employers play a very important role in providing not only
job opportunities but also work exposure and support employment related schemes
issued by the authorities. In an intervention Ms Haber said that we welcomed
the many initiatives being launched and that Government should also think of a
scheme to encourage youths to also invest time in their hobbies as these many
often could lead to the generation of new enterprises.

Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Joseph
Muscat and Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo
both said that although the youth unemployment rate in Malta remains low
when compared to our European
counterparts, those young people who can contribute to the country are
still rejected by a rigid
educational system. Government will be delivering the Youth Guarantee
through a dual approach – the preventive approach which will identify at
an
early stage those youth potentially at risk of becoming early school
leavers,
before they actually leave school; and the reactive response which will
address
those youths who are already not engaged in education, employment or
training. Dr.Muscat added that the country wants to ensure that young
people rejected by the system
find the support they need to regain positive energy and ambition to
move
forward.

Last week MCESD met the Opposition at the PN headquarters and
the meeting discussed a variety of issues. Amongst others the opposition
expressed its concerns on the increase in unemployed. Opposition leader Simon
Busuttil emphasized that it is essential that new jobs are created and the
unemployment level is decreased. The Opposition leader also referred to the
increase in Government debt and asked social partners to analyze this issue.