Category: Archive – 2015

An info session by Malta Enterprise (ME) on the Certify Tax Credit Scheme was hosted by GRTU this week.

The scheme is intended to offer a financial incentive for undertakings to improve the quality of their products, services an processes through the attainment of recognised quality marks, certifications and licenses. The maximum amount of the tax credit is 50%of the costs up to €25,000 (less for some specific certifications) which can utilised over a maximum of an additional two years after the year in which the certification is obtained.

The scheme covers ME approved certifications, namely: CE Marking; Halal Certification; GMP; Good Clinical Practice; ISO 9001; ISO 14001; ISO 50001; ISO 22000; ISO/TS 16949; HACCP; and ANSI/UL 61010-1. The deadline for

 these is the 31st December 2017. Other certifications may be applied for but first need to be approved by ME. The application for such approval closes on 30th June 2017. Eligible costs include consultation and certification costs.

Enterprises are encouraged to inquire for further information by contacting GRTU on 21232881 or " title="">

 

The pensions strategy seeks to incentivize savings in voluntary pension schemes and working beyond retirement age. It also maintains the present retirement age of 65 and rules out increasing social security contributions as well as compulsory second-pillar pensions, which are supplementary pensions paid by employers and employees.

He strategy is built on the principles that state pensions should be a solid source of income for pensioners, but should not be the only one.

It also sought to strike a just balance between the amount of time in which

 contributions are paid and the amount of time benefits are received, and to reform the system in such a way that it would be capable to evolve to address future developments.

The strategy includes a total of 27 recommendations, divided into four

categories:

1. reforms addressing social needs and issues related to society and work;
2. reforms addressing the sustainability of the pension system;            
3. reforms to encourage saving up for complementary pensions; and
4. reforms to address the problems faced by those who are already pensioners.

At present, those born on 1962 or later are required to make 40 years of social security contributions to be entitled to a full pension, but the reform proposes that those born on 1965 or later should contribute another year.

However, the proposed reforms would also increase the contributions credited to those who stop working to take care of their children, up to

5 years for their first child, 4 years for their second and 3 years for their third.

It would also credit full-time studies in courses which are MQF Level 5 (undergraduate diploma or certificate) or higher. Three months of contributions are to be credited for every year of studying MQF Level 5 (undergraduate diploma or certificate) or 6 (bachelor’s degree) courses, going up to six months per year of Level 7 (master’s degree) courses, and a full year for Level 8 (doctoral degree) ones.

Those entitled to retire between the age of 61 and 65 could improve their pension by up to 12% if they continue to work and forego their pension while they do so. Pensions could be improved even further if people keep working without receiving a pension beyond the age of 65.

At present, only those born on 1962 or later are entitled to a guaranteed national minimum pension (GMNP), but the reform proposes gradually extending this to older people, addressing the most vulnerable pensioners first. Those who would be 76 or older on 1 January 2016 would start receiving the guaranteed national minimum pension next year, and this would become universal by 2027.

The proposed pensions strategy is now open for public consultation and documents can be accessed through the following link: http://bit.ly/1exi9RL

Feedback can be sent by 17th July 2015, either by email on

 

GRTU President Paul Abela has attended the 104^thInternational Labour Organisation conference. The ILO conference brings together tripartite delegations which include governments, employer and worker delegates from the organisation’s 185 member states. Through these meetings the delegates reached a consensus on the need of a comprehensive policy framework and pro-active growth strategies, both at global and national levels.  The twelve day plenary focused on addressing issues that affect the 

working lives of millions all over the world and promoting SMEs as creators of productive employment. The conference also focused on wages, health and safety, working time and maternity protection with lies at the heart of the ILO mandate and of all delegates present.

 

In a launch conference bringing together various stakeholders and representatives of all the MCAST Institutes and Centres, MCAST has launched its plan ahead through the setting up of three colleges:

• Foundation College (Covering MQF Levels 1-3)
• Technical College (Covering MQF Level 4)

• University College (Covering MQF Level 5-7)

MCAST Chairperson Dr Silvio Debono gave a thorough overview of the strategic outlook for MCAST’s way forward. The changeover is to take place throughout the next three years with the aim of ensuring greater autonomy to the institutes as well as flexibility. MCAST has been offering courses as of Level 1 (comparable to School Leaving Certificate without O-levels) up to Level 6 (comparable to a University Degree). It will now venture into Level 7 (comparable to a Masters’ Degree).

MCAST is seeking to consolidate what has been achieved over the past years by having more vocational programmes across different levels and consolidating the linkages with both education and industry. This is based on three strategic pillars which are:

• Cross-curricular based learning: To ensure that all students attending MCAST will have the opportunity to learn and practice across a holistic approach of learning.
• Work-based learning: To ensure that all students attending MCAST will have work exposure, apprenticeship and internships as a critical component in their programme.
• Entrepreneurship experience: To ensure that all students attending MCAST will be exposed to higher level of engagement with future prospects.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo emphasized how important this change was yet it would only reap the benefits it is intended to if it manages to instil a change in practice. The colleges need to work as proposed across the notion of the former institutes and interchangeably work together as a college rather than as a stream, each on its own. The strategic pillars can elevate MCAST to the next level but only if it is implemented across the board and holistically. Otherwise, the Minister stated that this would be merely a cosmetic change, which he was sure it would not be. The idea is that MCAST becomes accredited as vocational university. The Minister also said that this would not mean that there should be unhealthy competition with the University of Malta but that through this renewed vision a wider cross-section of students continues to be reached.

GRTU is already working closely with MCAST as well as private training provision to ensure both a better quality workforce as well as citizens by ensuring a stronger bridge between education and industry. This is being done in various forms and increasing cooperation. Building on the past successes of MCAST to take the college to the next level is key for both education and the economy.

 

 

During a Business Breakfast focused on Tourism it was highlighted that with investment and effort to increase the quality of standards, Malta could be able to attract up to 2.8 million tourists annually if peak season arrivals could be replicated in the off-peak season, according to Malta Tourism Authority CEO Paul Bugeja. However tourism expert George Cassar voiced his concern that Malta had reached saturation point and added that he believes that Malta would not be able to cater for more than the 1.7 million tourists that

 visited the island in the previous year.

On the other hand Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis stated that tourism in Malta could still benefit from improvement, making due reference to the fact that an increase in the arrivals between October and November could be observed and that addressing the lack of infrastructure in the south could easily increase tourism in the area. Dr Zammit Lewis continued by expressing his concern about three-star hotels, saying that business owners should make a greater effort to improve their level of service.

GRTU Deputy President Philip Fenech, who also represents entertainment and hospitality sector at GRTU, reacted from the floor expressing that he believes that the investment accomplished by the Corinthia Group will increase the standards and positivity across the St. Julians area. This achievement should be an example to businesses in the area to upgrade and invest in their sector.

Mr Fenech continued by stating that the southern part of Malta should no longer be considered as an industrial area but rather as another touristic area with niches of its own. However it is also important that environmental restraints must be considered. Mr Fenech concluded by addressing issues that concern the Paceville commercial community. He mentioned that loitering must be addressed by all stakeholders in order to reach conclusions. He also mentioned that language school students within St Julians area are causing havoc and thus language schools should focus on attracting older students which would increase higher added value in the area. These were a few of the points Mr Philip Fenech discussed with the panel.  

 

Domestic PV schemes

GRTU notes with pleasure that Government has heeded its concerns on the need for new schemes in the renewable energy sector, mainly PV installations. A new grant scheme shall be launched next week, with a feed in tariff agreed with GRTU which is much better than originally planned by 

Government. The grant level and the way the scheme and the funds will be managed were also discussed during several meetings. A compromise has been reached to satisfy the retailers’ needs allowing for a good number of sales at a steady pace, as well as presenting a favourable investment opportunity to customers while addressing concerns raised by Government.

 

Systems without grants

GRTU is also urging Government to issue a scheme, not necessarily supported financially by a grant, whereby it enables families who already own a PV system to install more panels. Currently a family that opts to increase the number of panels will see its original system’s Feed in Tariff lowered to today’s rates. Given these panels were purchased at a time when prices were higher, this approach does not make sense. Government through its entities SEWCU and MRA should incentivise families who want to increase the number of panels on their roofs by providing a reasonable FIT, in line with today’s rates for systems installed without grants, independently from their old systems which should remain unaffected.

 

Commercial & Industrial schemes

GRTU is currently discussing final touches with various Government departments to launch a scheme directed at businesses and industry who would like to install PV systems on a commercial scale. The scheme aims to provide the necessary guarantees and finance at reduced rates.

 

Quality

GRTU urges all prospective clients to make sure the retailers they buy from are GRTU APPROVED. This ensures quality, safety, performance and a strong redress opportunity in case something still goes wrong.

GRTU also takes this opportunity to invite genuine non-GRTU APPROVED retailers to participate in this scheme. There is nothing to be afraid of; to the contrary the certificate instils confidence by customers in your company and provides a variety of incentives. These include promotion via press releases and GRTU website and FB page, subsidized rates for trade fair participation, participation in the upcoming commercial and industrial schemes, and participation in the PVPFS.

 

GRTU held an information session regarding the newly re-launched Apprenticeship and Internship Scheme Opportunities in collaboration with MCAST. This session generated interest throughout a variety of sectors and members as it provides opportunities to tap into the service of new entrants into the labour market through work-based learning. The new scheme under the management of MCAST takes the form of quality apprenticeships and internships which are based on agreed learning pathways to be of value to the students as well as the businesses hosting them.

Apprenticeships:

• MQF Level 3 and 4 (comparable with O-level and A-level standard in terms of vocational training)
• Allowance by employer to be given to student undergoing apprenticeship of Eur50.00 per week
• Applicable tax credits of between Eur700 and Eur1200
• Student undergoing apprenticeship will be working around 16 hours a week during school months and around 40 hours a week during holiday months

Internships:

• MQF Level 5 and 6 (comparable with University Diploma or University Degree in terms of vocational training)
• No payment obligation applies
• Agreed set number of hours can span over 1 month up to 9 months

This applies to various vocational training sectors and your business can benefit directly by the services of apprentice/intern as well as by contributing to a more labour market-oriented workforce in the years to come. For further assistance and support please contact GRTU on 21232881/3or by email.

 

 

 

The implementation of the WEEE Directive is now round the corner. In mid April a consultation document was issued by the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change together with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. The consultation document focused mainly on amendments to the Eco Contribution Act and amendments to Legal Notice 204 of 2014.

Green MT, together with GRTU Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, welcomed the draft amendments which clearly showed a commitment by Government to deliver this Budget 2015. The draft amendments included the abolishing of Eco Contribution related to electrical and electronic equipment including refrigeration and air-conditioning, heating and cooking apparatus, IT and telecommunications equipment and other related equipment.

In response to this public consultation GRTU and Green MT issued feedback document which was forwarded by 8th May 2015 as requested and agreed with Minister Hon Leo Brincat. Beyond this date only one consultation meeting was held with MEPA officials who were responsible to discuss the feedback issues provided by stakeholders and others who formed part of this consultation.

During the meeting it was established that a number of proposals put forward by GRTU and Green MT were accepted and thus amendments were made to the legislation accordingly to reflect stakeholders input including producers of WEEE and Scheme operators.

The amendments now include the definition of local agency and the relation between a Local Council and the said agency together with additionally noting that Scheme will only need to take the amount of EEE from the local agency in order to meet its producer’s obligations pro rata.

Schemes representing producers will be able to provide a recycling insurance instead of a blocked bank account. The capping for self-compliant producers has now been removed. Although legislative issues relating to MEPA’s remit were amended by MEPA itself, a number of cardinal issues that were put forward by Green MT and GRTU have as yet not been discussed further.

GRTU and Green MT continue to contend that prior to implementing the amended legislation any legal liability of producers of EEE for the period 2007 to 31st August 2015 needs to be settled once and for all. We have proposed that MEPA, being the Competent Authority at present responsible for this legislation should enter into a settlement agreement with EEE producers who had paid Eco Contribution in that period. Without this, moving on is not an option. MEPA have outlined that this needs a Cabinet decision and is not part of their remit. We insist on this issue and we duly hope that these settlement agreements are all in place by 31st August 2015.

A second issue is the cost of WEEE material being handed to a Scheme by a local agency, namely Wasteserv. It was agreed that the Minister will be the one who would decide on the final price that Schemes would take over this material, however duly hoping that the Minister does not pass the buck back to Wasteserv. In a recent meeting held earlier this week with Wasteserv officials, we were made aware that the fee to be paid by Schemes would be circa Euros 100 per tonne. At face value this is not acceptable at all and Schemes should hold firm and not accept such a fee. Schemes should not be made to pay approximately €580,000 to be given back this material. We are sure that managing WEEE in these Civic Amenity sites is not that costly. If it is, it is high time these CA sites were sent to a privatization process. Schemes need to approximately collect and recycle 42% of market placement in 2016 which is approximately 5800 tonnes based on current approximate market placement of 14,000 tonnes.

Last but not least, GRTU and Green MT have objected to anyone having a permit for a WEEE Scheme, a WEEE treatment and storage facility and at the same time having a Scrap metal facility permit. Should this remain in place it would mean the end of WEEE implementation from the very beginning. Such a situation raises concern and as such, MEPA permitting Directorate were requested to advise whether inspections have been held at this facility since December 2014, when this permit was issued. The reply stated that the facility has not been inspected since but will be inspected in the coming weeks. On receiving this answer we requested MEPA permitting directorate to provide a list of facilities inspected from January 01, 2014 to 31st December 2014. To date no answer has been forthcoming. This implies concerns on the seriousness shown by the Competent Authority who in this respect seems to issue paper or desk permits only without any further checks down the line. This is not acceptable and Competent Authorities should make sure that Environmental Legislation is adhered to at all times.

The above three issues, namely past legal liability to the WEEE Directive, the issue of cost of WEEE material being handed to Schemes, and finally the vertical permitting including a scrap metal facility need to be addressed by Government prior to initiating implementation. The past gives us good reason to believe that we are there to make sure the business community does not go through unneeded stumbling blocks, neither now or in the future in relation to WEEE implementation. Government needs address these issues now. Publishing amendments to the present legislation without tackling these three issues will present a scenario which is unacceptable to the business community. Whilst being aware that there is enough good will, this has to be reflected in action now. Proceeding without ironing out these concerns will only lead to unnecessary litigation which is not sought for by any stakeholder who is part and parcel to the implementation of this Directive.

 

GRTU believes that this proposal is positive in principle since it will address issues related to the negative preconceptions on women’s employment and career prospects. The fact must be highlighted that as a by-product of this fund, employers in female-dominated sectors shall benefit at the expense of employers in male-dominated sectors.

Whilst GRTU widely recognises the importance of supporting working women in their lifestyle requirements, most importantly their role as mothers, it is 

also important to acknowledge that maternity leave has a big impact on small businesses. Maternity leave leads many small businesses to go through increased pressure having to make up for less human resources while still carrying the same wage cost. Some businesses go through more hardship because they need to find a replacement with the right skills and spend even more on wage costs to fill in this gap.

Still however the process is embedded in businesses` working practices and it is believed that gender does not have a significant impact on hiring decisions. However this proposal may likely result in only a marginal increase in the employment level of women. At the same time GRTU is concerned with a number of elements found in this proposal that could potentially make the measure disproportionately burdensome and harmful to business.

GRTU emphasizes that the reimbursement system will create unnecessary cash flow concerns and administrative burdens on employers which can easily be avoided if the full scope of this system is to be reaped – otherwise employers are more likely to see a financial and administrative burden of having women out on maternity leave, until the reimbursement is paid. This would also result in employers having to go through additional procedures and administrative processes to reclaim funds.

The two-fold implementation of the measure is also a concern when an employers must pay for maternity leave through increased contributions and still paying the employee during maternity leave directly. The measure will make employers pay the benefit twice until they go through the administrative procedure and get reimbursed. In addition reimbursements by Government are always a concern because of the usual lengthy timeframes. GRTU therefore is in favour of a proposal that would pay employees directly and is taken from the employer only once, without any reimbursement or administrative burden on the employer.

GRTU also outlines that since the collection of the fund is envisaged to be linked (even if indirectly) to the collection of employers’ National Insurance Contributions, this should not develop into a precursor for future increases of imbalance on NI contributions against the employer. It should also be assured that the system does not incur additional unnecessary burdens on employers to implement this, such as expenses for payroll software. It would already be deemed a burden on employers and therefore all necessary measures have to be taken to ensure that no additional expenses are put on the employer.

Whilst analyzing maternity provisions and the participation of women in employment GRTU believes that Government should also seriously consider easing the financial strain on small businesses complying with maternity provisions. The support can be in the form of tax breaks or subsidies. The challenges small businesses faces to implement maternity measures are significant and they should be supported while they in turn are supporting their employees and trying to safeguard the sustainability of their business.

Last but not least, GRTU requests that the workings that led to the 0.3% rate increase would be made public. Moreover, in case of future revisions of the rate this has to take place in consultation with social partners concerned, within a stipulated framework and timeframe, to avoid unexpected instability on business’ budgets.