The Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act (Chapter 413)

Annual Report 2014/2015 KNPD

Fifteen years of operation of the Equal Opportunities Act

National Commission of Persons with Disability

Publication:

National Commission of Persons with Disability

Bugeia Institute

Braille Street

St Venera SVR 1919

Telephone: 2278 8555

SMS: 7978 8555

Email:

www.knpd.org

Editors: Oliver Scicluna, Victoria Grech, Jessica Schembri, Christian Camilleri

Introduction

The National Commission of Persons with Disability (KNPD) continued with its work aimed at strengthening the functions of its operation as regulator. The Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act Section within KNPD continued to undergo changes among which the increase of employees who started working directly within it. This was done in order to be able to address the complaints received in a better manner and within the shortest time possible, in this way reducing discrimination against persons with disability.

In the middle of the year Mr Bernard A. Busuttil, who was Section Manager, was seconded to a position within the Secretariat for Local Government. During his leadership of the Section, Mr Busuttil headed the consultation process for the amendment of the Equal Opportunities Act (Chapter 413, 2000). These amendments occurred in order for the Act to become stronger and truly reflect today’s needs.

In the absence of a Manager, the Section is now being directly managed by KNPD’s Chairman. At present the other Section members are Ms Victoria Grech, Ms Jessica Schembri, Mr Frank Buhagiar and Mr Christian Camilleri. While Ms Grech had already formed part of the Section, the other three joined during the said year. It is worth mentioning that Mr Buhagiar was made in charge of all Gozo-related cases since he manages KNPD’s Gozo office.

In spite of the considerable changes that took place within the Section, KNPD did not stop working to minimised discrimination, and this clearly appears in the figures shown in this Annual Report.

Oliver Scicluna

KNPD Chairman

Executive Summary

· During the year 2014/2015, KNPD worked on a total of 327 complaints. Of these, 203 were pending from the previous year while 124 were newly placed complaints. This means a decrease of 24 complaints from the previous year.

· The number of new complaints for this year (124) means a decrease of 37 complaints from the previous year. This is because during the previous year KNPD received and worked on a total of 161 new complaints.

· During the first 15 years, KNPD investigated a total of 1645 complaints, which means an average of 110 complaints per year. The lowest number of new complaints was investigated during the year 2003/2004 (71), while the highest number was investigated during 2008/2009 (172).

· In the employment sector, the number of new complaints throughout this year fell from 17 to 12.

· In the education sector, the number of new complaints declined from 20 to 12.

· The accessibility sector registered 63 new complaints, or a decrease of 8 complaints from the previous year.

· The accessibility sector was the sector about which KNPD received the most new complaints.

· In the provision of goods and services sector 32 new complaints were registered, which entails a decrease of 15 complaints from the previous year.

· In the housing sector a decrease in new complaints was registered over the previous year’s total (from 6 to 5 complaints).

· As happened in the last two years, this year no complaints were registered in the insurance sector.

· The highest number of new complaints was made against Government (50). Following this there were 38 new complaints related to the private sector, 32 against Local Councils, 2 against public-private entities and a further 2 against the Church.

· The highest number of complaints concerning the accessibility sector (25) was lodged against Local Councils, while the greatest number of complaints related to the provision of goods and services (17) and the education sector (9) were lodged against Government. The highest number of employment-related complaints (7) was received with regard to the private sector, with the greatest number attained in relation to housing (4) also made against the private sector.

· Throughout this year KNPD closed 120 complaints out of a total of 327 complaints that it worked on (or 37% of complaints). This percentage shows a decrease of 5% compared to the number of closed complaints from the previous twelve months.

· The highest number of closed complaints concerned Government (51). The number of complaints concluded in relation to the private sector was of 35, followed by 28 against Local Councils, 5 regarding the Church, and 1 concerning public-private entities.

· Throughout the coming year KNPD will work on the remaining 202 complaints that require further discussion. Of these, 82 concern the private sector, 55 complaints were made against Local Councils, 51 concern Government, 13 were made against the Church, and one complaint targets the public-private sector. There are also 5 court cases.

· This was the 12th year running since the beginning of the Test of Reasonableness Board’s operation during which it received requests for exemptions related to development applications.

· Throughout the past year, KNPD reviewed 44 cases, or 34 fewer cases than the previous year. Of these, 22 were deemed reasonable subject to certain conditions, while 18 were not accepted. There were 4 other cases about which further information was requested.

An Overview of the Main Complaints

KNPD has a section within its secretariat, known as the Equal Opportunities Act Section, which coordinates the work related to the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act. It is worth mentioning that it is KNPD’s responsibility to ensure compliance with this act, in this manner safeguarding the interests of persons with disability and of society in general. In fact this act, which is anti-discriminatory, is intended to bring about positive change by improving the quality of life of persons with disability and those around them.

The Section operates on two levels. The first is the reactive level, which consists of the investigation of complaints received by KNPD from persons with disability, their relatives and organisations that feel discriminated against on the basis of their disability. It is worth noting that often the Section intervenes after a person with disability has addressed their complaint to the entity they feel has discriminated against them, but where for some reason a solution is not found. KNPD uses this strategy in order to encourage persons with disability to speak for themselves, as it has always done. If it results that there are people who will experience difficulty in lodging their complaint with the entity concerned, KNPD provides them with a sample letter of complaint. The second level is proactive, where the Section itself intervenes wherever it notices physical and social obstacles that reduce the quality of life of persons with disability. On these two levels, the Section makes an effort to find solutions within a reasonable time frame wherever possible, and in cases where an absence of good will is observed, it makes use of the Act to impose a change.

As already mentioned in the introduction, throughout the period covered by this report there were substantial changes in the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act Section, among which KNPD Chairman’s direct management of the Section, no longer carried out by a Manager.

The Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act Section is currently composed as follows:

· Mr Oliver Scicluna, KNPD Chairman

· Ms Victoria Grech, Assistant Manager

· Ms Jessica Schembri, Services Officer

· Mr Christian Camilleri, Assistant Manager

· Dr Alexia Farrugia Zrinzo, Legal Consultant

As it has done every year since the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act came into force, KNPD is presenting a booklet containing a report on the work relating to the Act carried out in the previous 12 months, between October 2014 and September 2015. The work reports on the Act concerned which KNPD presents cover the period starting October, not January, since the act came into full force in October 2000. This means that we are in the 16th year of operation of the EOA, with interesting developments taking place over the years in those areas of the Act which directly affect persons with disability. These developments also demonstrate the change experienced in the lives of persons with disability in our country, in terms of quantity, quality as well as the time it takes for such change to take place.

The Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act is divided into various sections, with Section III stating that there can be no discrimination made against people on the basis of their disability. These sections are grouped under the following 5 main headings:

1. Employment

2. Education

3. Access (physical)

4. The provision of goods, facilities or services

5. Accommodation (housing)

Heading 6 under this same Act provides information on exemptions. Additionally, it safeguards persons with disability from discrimination in relation to insurance.

This part of the work report will provide an account of the main complaints which this Section within KNPD addressed this past year. These complaints are selected according to the sector they belong to, with each sector being further subdivided into three categories:

· Closed complaints

· Complaints regarding which discussion is still ongoing (or pending)

· Complaints presented in court.

The number for each complaint according to the Tables on pages 45-92 appears after the name of each complaint.

1 EMPLOYMENT

CLOSED COMPLAINTS

Petition by Local Council employees in favour of the dismissal from work of their colleagues with disability (Complaint 5)

Employees of St Paul’s Bay Local Council allegedly tried to circulate a petition within the Local Council to remove the persons with disability employed there. Following KNPD’s consultation with the Local Council and the Local Councils Directorate, a solution was reached and the complaint was closed.

Not given a promotion owing to hearing impairment (Complaint 7)

A complaint was received by KNPD from a person with hearing impairment who felt discriminated against after they were not promoted at work. After KNPD contacted Bank of Valletta and the selection process was reviewed, it was concluded that the person had not been discriminated against.

Not allowed to carry over unutilised leave hours from the previous year (Complaint 8)

A person with physical disability complained that the Medelec company management refused their request to carry over unutilised leave hours from the previous year, to be added to those of the current year. This request was mainly made in view of the fact that the person with disability was to undergo surgery and wished to make use of the previous year’s unutilised leave hours during their recovery period. After KNPD held a meeting with the company management, the latter accepted the request on condition that all unutilised hours from the previous year would be used in the current year.

PENDING COMPLAINTS

Lack of accommodation in the workplace (Complaint 12)

A person with disability brought forward a complaint claiming that they were not being reasonably accommodated in the workplace and that they were being subjected to disability-related harassment by colleagues. KNPD contacted HSBC in this regard, following which the Bank called a meeting with the person with disability and a reasonable solution was found.

COURT

There were no complaints related to the employment sector presented in court.

2. EDUCATION

CLOSED COMPLAINTS

A person who won a scholarship complained of pressure being put on them (Complaint 26)

A person with intellectual disability who had been awarded a scholarship complained that the awarding government body was putting great pressure on them, to the point that this situation was worsening their condition. It was alleged that the entity had threatened the person concerned that it would take back money from them if the course couldn’t be completed within the stipulated period. The person with disability claimed that their condition could not allow this kind of pressure to be made, and KNPD therefore intervened to seek a suitable solution.

Request for hoist to be installed in the school's sanitary facilities (Complaint 33)

The parent of a female student with mobility restrictions who attends Żokrija Secondary School in Mosta made a request for a hoist to be installed in the school’s sanitary facilities. After KNPD made contact with the school and the Ministry of Education, a hoist was provided to enable the student to easily make use of the sanitary facilities.

Girl sent home owing to severely challenging behaviour (Complaint 35)

The parent of a person with disability with severely challenging behaviour who attends the Guardian Angel School in Ħamrun contacted KNPD after being informed that until contacted by the Education Division for a meeting, their daughter should no longer be sent to school. The reason given was that the child was displaying such severely challenging behaviour that the school authorities suggested that she should be given higher doses of medication during the warmer months to calm her down. According to the mother, the child became more confused with this situation and no improvement could be observed. She also insisted that over time, her daughter had learnt that if she pinched a member of staff, this would be considered enough of a motive for the school authorities to call the mother to collect her daughter and take her home. This behaviour was also observed happening during school transport, with the driver accompanying the girl back home before they reached the school. After KNPD contacted the Education Division, it learnt that the Union of Teachers had issued a directive in this regard, and KNPD therefore put pressure on the Union to eliminate the directive.

PENDING COMPLAINTS

Lack of accessibility in IT schools (Complaint 17)

KNPD received a complaint from persons with physical disability who wished to attend an IT course but could not owing to a lack of physical access in the building where the courses were being held. KNPD called a meeting with the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCHFE) where an agreement was reached on the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties that would address lack of accessibility in IT schools.