Industrial and Employment Relations Improvements (MT0016)

Upgrades in the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations –
Commitment Number 4
January 2019 – December 2020
Lead implementing agency/actor Department for Industrial and Employment Relations
Commitment description
What is the public problem that the
commitment will address?
The Department for Industrial and Employment
Relations was enacted to protect the interests of parties
in employment contracts while actively promoting a
healthy employment relationship in a spirit of social
partnership, and to contribute towards stable industrial
relations. This Commitment seeks to address an
improvement in the quality of services provided to people
who look for the Department’s help or advice in
employment relations.
What is the commitment? This Commitment will focus to reform the modus
operandi of the Department through three pillars being;
an improved IT system, refurbishment of the premises
and implementation of a Quality Service Charter.
How will the commitment contribute
to solve the public problem?
Through this Commitment, quality of customer service
will increase given that the efficiency and the
effectiveness of the Department will be targeted in this
Commitment. This Commitment is addressing quality
through being more customer responsive by focusing on
customer’s needs.
Why is this commitment relevant to
OGP values?
• Accessibility will increase through refurbished
offices. This will see also the introduction of
private dedicated spaces, previously unavailable,
for employees wishing to approach the
Department for advice or to open a case in
matters concerning conditions of employment.
• Accessibility will also be increased through the
alliance of the Department with Servizz.Gov.
• Accountability will also increase, as the Quality
Service Charter will set standards including
timelines in which services will be expected to be
delivered. This information will also be available
to the general public.
Additional information • Department for Industrial and Employment
Relations website:
http://www.dier.gov.mt
Milestone Activity with a verifiable
deliverable
Start Date: End Date:
Refirbishment of the DIER offices
in 108 Melita Street Valletta.
Jan 2019 Dec 2020
Training of Servizz.Gov Officer for
the integration of DIER services
with Servizz.Gov.
Jan 2019 Dec 2020
Implementation of the Quality
Service Charter.
Jan 2019 Dec 2020
Continuance of upgrading the
internal IT system (DIERS) used by
DIER Officers.
Jan 2019 Dec 2020
Contact information
Name of responsible person from
implementing agency
Diane Vella Muscat
Title, Department Senior Manager
Office of the Permanente Secretary
Ministry for European Affairs and Equality
Email and Phone diane.vella-muscat@gov.mt
22957740

4. Upgrades in the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The Department for Industrial and Employment Relations was enacted to protect the interests of parties in employment contracts while actively promoting a healthy employment relationship in a spirit of social partnership, and to contribute towards stable industrial relations. This Commitment seeks to address an improvement in the quality of services provided to people who look for the Department’s help or advice in employment relations.

This Commitment will focus to reform the modus operandi of the Department through three pillars being; an improved IT system, refurbishment of the premises and implementation of a Quality Service Charter.

Through this Commitment, quality of customer service will increase given that the efficiency and the effectiveness of the Department will be targeted in this Commitment. This Commitment is addressing quality through being more customer responsive by focusing on customer’s needs.”

Milestones:

4.1. Refurbishment of the DIER offices in 108 Melita Street Valletta.

4.2. Training of Servizz.Gov Officer for the integration of DIER services with Servizz.Gov.

4.3. Implementation of the Quality Service Charter.

4.4.  Continuance of upgrading the internal IT system (DIERS) used by DIER Officers.

Start Date: January 2019

End Date: December 2020

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see Malta’s action plan 2018-2020: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Malta_Action-Plan_2018-2020.pdf

Context and Objectives

In 2017, Malta’s economy grew by 6.6 percent, more than double the EU’s average growth (2.4 percent), and unemployment grew by 6 percent. [13] However, according to the OECD, there are few tailored entrepreneurship policies and programmes for groups that are under-represented or disadvantaged (such as unemployed, older people, and people with disabilities). [14] This commitment aims to strengthen accessibility and service delivery at the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) by improving the IT system, implementing the Quality Service Charter and refurbishing DIER’s offices. Although the commitment aims to strengthen accessibility and service delivery, it only targets internal public administration reforms, without including any public-facing elements that could foster access to information, civic participation or public accountability.

The commitment is specific enough to be verified. However, indicators on the number of offices that will be refurbished; the number of officials that will be trained, and the exact time-schedules of the implementation of the Quality Service Charter could all strengthen the specificity of the commitment. Moreover, the actions to upgrade the internal IT system are not clear enough, and the commitment does not state how and to what point this upgrade is continuing previous actions.

If fully implemented, the commitment could have a minor potential impact on the quality of employment services. The commitment would not address one of the main problems in Malta’s labour sector, which is the development of tailored programmes to enhance accessibility of employment for the disadvantaged. The commitment presumes that the quality of customer service and accessibility will increase through internal public administration reforms. Although the activities proposed in the commitment could improve the quality of customer service, this impact would only be indirect. This is because all of the proposed activities, including the implementation of the Quality Service Charter, focus on strengthening institutional capacities without directly targeting citizens’ accessibility to services or customer needs.

Next steps

If the improvement of services related to employment is prioritised in the next action plan, the commitment activities should be better linked to opening government. This could be done by improving access to information on services, the inclusion of customers’ associations and trade unions in the development and implementation of new initiatives and considering the creation of a feedback mechanism for evaluating provided services. Furthermore, the commitment could also specify how the improvement of the IT system will improve citizens’ ability to access employment services.

Commitment 4. Upgrade the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations

Not started

This commitment aimed to strengthen the accessibility of services at the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) by improving its IT system, implementing the Quality Service Charter and refurbishing its office space.

The government has not reported any advancement in this commitment and the CSOs consulted by the IRM were not aware of any progress towards its implementation. [16] The IRM could not find any information on DIER’s webpage on improvements to its IT systems or on implementing the Quality Service Charter. A tender for office space refurbishment at 108 Melita Street in Valletta was published on 4 March 2021, after the end of the action plan cycle, [17]