Ministry does not deny claims, but says DIER not responsible for Playmobil’s ‘home-workers’ removal from social benefits scheme

Malta’s Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) was not responsible for removing Playmobil’s ‘home-workers’ from the social benefits scheme, a spokesperson from the Ministry for Equality has told The Malta Independent on Sunday, without denying the claim or revealing the exact reason for the removal of these workers from the scheme.

Arnold Cassola has alleged that individuals involved in Playmobil’s home-workers’ ‘cheap-labour’ scheme have been removed from the social benefits scheme, following the DIER investigation that was opened last May following revelations by this newsroom.

He has also claimed, while criticising Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for “laying a red carpet for the rich and ignoring the problems of the ones really in need,” that Playmobil has threatened to move its operations to Tunisia if the company is “not allowed to continue with these slave payment schemes.”

“DIER does not remove people from the social benefit scheme… if any benefits were suspended as a result of workers not paying tax and social security contributions while earning an income as obliged by law, this was surely not due to any DIER investigation,” the spokesperson said.

DIER Director Sandra Gatt told this newsroom last June that during investigations, DIER inspectors visited Playmobil Malta and a few of the subcontractors. The inspectors who carried out interviews with both the management and employees at the place of work found no wrongdoing in the internal structure of the company but concluded that there was an issue over ‘home workers’.

An investigation concerning subcontractors and ‘home-workers’ that was summarily opened has not yet been concluded.

Last May, this newsroom reported that the German company engages subcontractors, who then employ Maltese people to assemble toys, paying them between €1.90 and €2.00 an hour to work from home – less than half the minimum wage – in a clear violation of employment laws by subjecting them to precarious conditions of work.

It was also found that the company requires subcontractors to adhere to strict production regulations. Documents indicate that, in respect of one product, the subcontractor will be paid €11.40 for every 1,000 pieces that are produced in three hours, or one piece every 10 seconds, meaning that it is basically impossible to produce enough units per hour to reach the minimum wage rate.

Cassola, in his former capacity as AD Leader, had told Prime Minister Joseph Muscat specifically about the exploitative scheme on 22 May during the Leaders’ Debate held at the University.

The network of Playmobil’s exploitation of workers extends beyond home-workers, after this newsroom revealed last Sunday that the company is also employing inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF) in a similar fashion, which is allegedly also being facilitated through a subcontractor based in Hal-Għaxaq.

In reply to questions sent to the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality regarding CCF, a Ministry spokesperson said that while DIER is conducting an investiga- tion into the subject, “one cannot rush to conclusions about the existence of precarious conditions in home work which is offered by the company to whoever freely opts to earn extra income.”

CCF Director Mariella Camilleri has repeatedly ignored questions regarding the exact amount being paid to each inmate, instead telling the newsroom that “discussions are ongoing and a report is to be presented to the Minister regarding the way forward.”

However, despite being asked, she did not reveal what was being discussed, and what the report will concern.

Similarly, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia also declined to divulge details of the discussions and pending report.