Unfair dismissal under Maltese law

Abstract

The picture we have today of industrial law is one teeming with a vast range of activities and new developments. And unfair dismissal - which might, at first glance, strike one as the jarring not of this otherwise - idyllic scenario - is very much one of these spheres where development is not only widespread, but is also continuous. Even within the few months during which the research for this study has been made, the situation has changed noticeably in some aspects. This is certainly symptomatic of the world of industrial relations, and is a sign of the dynamism and flexibility that necessarily attends the unravelling of the relationships between those who work and those for whom they work. When one says that the situation has changed noticeably, one understands not only that the legislator has thought fit to intervene by express enactment to cater for a situation which experience showed to be defective or wayward, but also that the exigencies of industry in these tumultuous days have spawned new concepts and ideas. In the field of labour law, change is a palpable reality. It is curious that, while the recent amendments to the OERA were being piloted through the various stages of enactments, the Minister of labour remarked that the amendments in question were to be reviewed again in a very short time, and 'fixed a date' for within a year's time when the whole topic would be discussed again and the situation analysed. The opposition spokesman commended the Minister for this view, realising that the reason was not faulty drafting of the provisions but, indeed, a realistic admission of the nature of labour law. In this field the law has to make great leaps merely to keep track of the going-on at the factory-floor level.