New section on DIER website to include employment contracts by specific industry sectors

A new section has been launched on the online portal of the Department of Industrial Relations and Labour (DIER) which includes free templates of employment contracts according to specific sectors of the industry, the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue Andy Ellul said.

The main objective of the portal is to serve as a guide for the parties involved, primarily the employer and the employee to follow the conditions agreed according to the labor law.

A large part of the Maltese labour law is based on the contractual agreement made between both parties and therefore it is essential that there is a point of reference on the conditions to be included in the employment work contract.

Ellul said that through this initiative the workers will now have more knowledge of what their rights are and thus the worker can request the conditions that must be respected.

“Our goal is to see that the workers, whoever they are, and where they come from, are 100 percent aware of their rights. We want the rights that we have strengthened in recent times, to be enjoyed by everyone,” he said.

The parliamentary secretary added that this initiative also helps employers especially those companies with small operations and that don’t have Human Resources personnel especially (start-ups), since they are trying to  avoid costs.

Director of the Department of Industrial Relations and Employment Diane Vella Muscat explained that the portal will include the minimum sectoral employment conditions.

She said that apart from the sectors according to the various Wage Regulation Orders there are different templates to meet the demands of the parties, including conditions on a defined/indefinite full-time basis and those defined/indefinite part-time.

“The portal also offers guidelines and explanations from the law on how to complete the respective employment contracts. This was done in order to facilitate the drawing up of employment contracts as well as to ensure that the employees are given the correct entitlements,” said Diane Vella Muscat.