ACT No. XXVII of 1989 AN A CT 10 I.Imend the M I.IIII.I DockYl.lrd A ct, 1968.

I assent.

( LoS .)

CENSU T AHONE

President

8th August , 1989

ACT No. XXVII of 1989

AN A CT 10 I.Imend the M I.IIII.I DockYl.lrd A ct, 1968.

BE IT ENA CfED by the President. by and with the advice and

ronsent of the House of Representatives. in this present Parliament

assembled. and by the authori ty of the same. as folloW$: -

This Act may be cited as the Malta Dockyard (Ame ndment)

Act. 1989 and shall be read and construed as one with th e Malta

Dockyard Act, 1968. hereinafter referred to as ··the principal Aet"".

Section 5 of the principal Act shall be amended as fo llows

(a) for subsection (2) thereof there sha ll be substituted the

following

M(2) The Council shall consist of nine members

(hereinafte r also referred to as the elected members) elected

by the employees of the corporation in manner provided by

Ihis Act. One of the members shall be elected as Chairma n by

the members of the Council at the first silti ng after their

election.M;

(b) for sub$cction (6) thereof th ere shall be substiluted th e

following

-(6)(a) Where a vacancy occurs among the members of

the Council. il shall be filled by Ihe employees of Ihe

corporation by means of an election held fOt" Ihe purpose .

(b) Whe re the office of chairman of the Council

becomes vacant. the members of the Council sha ll proceed 10

elect one of their members as Chairman at the first silling held

afte r the vacancy occurs.'·; and

(c) in subsection ( 12) thereof. for the words Mlhe

Schedule to Ihis A ct there sh.all be: substilUtcd tile words Mlhc

M

M

First Schedule to Ihis ACl

•

For the proviso 10 section 9 of the principal Ael , there shall be

substituted the following

MProvided thal lhe G overnment may nOI sec ure a ny liabi lily o f

the corporation be)'Qnd the aggregate sum of three and a half

million Maltaie lin or such other sum lIS the House of

M

Repre!i<'-ntatives may be resolution de termine.

•

Section IOof the principal Act shall be amended as follows

(a) in subsection ( \ ) thereof for the words "as the Coun cil ,

with the concurrence of the Mini ste r responsible for finance. may

deem appropriate in the circumslanccs there shall be substituted

M

the words "as th e Minister responsible for fi nance may direct as

appropriate in the ci rcumstances ~ ; and

(b) in subsection (2) thereof for the words " the corporation

may hypothecate or change~ there shall be 5ub$tituted the words

" the corporation may, with the concurrence of the Minister

responsible for finance, hypothecat e or charge ~.

For section 12 of Ihe principal Act . the re shall be sub$cituted

the following

==

Any profits of the corporation for any financial

"AppIico.1Ioo

year after charging provisions in respect o f tax and o f ils

obligations under sections 10 and 11 of this Act shall be

ofthe

""'P"""ioa . applied for such purposes as the Counci l may determi ne

Provided that-

(a) no less Ihan 20% shall be credited 10 Ihe

reserve fund;

(b) no pan of Ihe remaining balam:e shall be

applied OIberwise Ihan for purposes of the corporation

or. to tbe eXlent permined by Ihis Act, fo r the bene fit of

the employees of the corporalion; and

(c) the power of the Council under thi s secti on

shall be subject to such directions as to the appli ca tion of

any such excess as the Pri me Mini ster may give 10 the

Council." .

6. Immediately after section 160fthe principal Act, there shall be

added the fo llowing section

" ~11

16A .

(I )

There

IS

hereby

established

for

the

""i, .... "' em ployees of Ihe corporation a scheme to be kn own as the

-~ .

Early

Reti rement

Scheme whe reby

workers of the

corporatio n between the ages of 56 and 61 years, or such

ot her ages as th e Pri me Minister in agreement with the

Counci l may in accordance wilh subsed ion (5 ) of Ihis section

prescribe. and !hoscofa younger age su ffering from ill-health

or inj ury shall be given I pension upon thei r early re tire me nt

in accorda nce "'~t h the agreement ente red into between the

Government and the Council o f the corpora tion on the 16th

May, 1989.

(2) The Early Ret irement Scheme shall be

volunta ry. Eligi bility for a pension unde r the Schem e. shall be

governed by the Rules governing the Early Retire men t

Scheme (he reinafter call ed the Rules) contained in the

Second Sched ule 10 thi s Act.

(3) The Scheme sha ll be run by a Com mi ttee

appointed in aa;:ordanee wit h the Ru les, and the Committee

shall subject 10 the said rules be responsible for the proper

functioni ng of the Scheme.

(4) Employees of the corporatio n may up 10 the

31st Decembe r 1990. or such lalcr dute as Ihe Prime Min ister

in agreement with the Counci l may in accordance with

subsection (5) of th is sect ion prescribe, apply to benefit from

the Scheme.

(5)

The Prim e Ministe r may make regulations

(a) p-rescribing anything that may be prescribed in

acoordanee with any of the foregoing subsections of this

seclion;

(b) effecting such amendme nts to the Rules that

may be necessary in orde r 10 give full effect to the

agree ment referred 10 in subsection (I ) o ft hissection, or

in any agree ment ente red bet ween the Govern ment and

the Council concerning the Scheme;

(c) ge ne rally for gi ving belle r effecl 10 the

provisions o f this section and 10 Ihe agreement referred

to in sub$Cctio n (I) of Ihis section. M.

7. ( I) The Schedule to the principal Act shall be renumbered as Aildi.ion .,.-

Ihe Fint Schedule the reto;

(2) Immediately after the First Sched ul e to the principal Act.

as renumbered there shall be added the following Sccond Schedule

~Seoood Schedule

(Section 16A)

RULES GOVERNING THE

EARLY RETIREMENT SCHEM E - MALTA DRYOOC KS

I. The runnin g of the scheme shall be th e responsibilit y o f a

Commiu ee appoi nted by the Prime Ministe r and published in the

G uene .

2. Th e Commi ttee shall beoomposed o ffour me mbe rs, o ne from

th e Mini stry o f Finance, o lle from the Ministry fo r Social POlicy. one

from the Council of the Malta Drydocks and one from the Managemenl

of the Malta Orydocks. All decisions of the Comm in ee must be

unanimous.

).

(i) The Committee shall regul ate its own procedures.

( ii ) Where any claim for earl y ret ire ment iscontcsted e ither

by Management or by the applicant , eithe r o f the cont csting panics

shall have the right to petit ion for an appeal to lie with tbe

Committee and for this purpose the Committee shall aCI as an

Admin istrative Tribunal in which capacity it shall be empowered to

allow or disallow a claim for e arly retirement and ils decision shall

be construed as final.

(iii ) The Comm itt ee shall have access to relevant

information held by management in respect of any applica nt who

ma y be considered as eligible for the scheme irrespective whether

such eligibility is on the grou nds of age, or on the grounds o f ilI-

health .

4. Any decision by the Co mm itt ee under the provis ions of rule )

shall bi nd the Management of the Malt a Orydocks and the latter shall

e nsure that such decisions are impleme nted immediately .

5. The sche me shall be open to

(a) 0) Every employee of the Malta Orydocks who will

have att ained the age of56 ye ars in the case o f a man an d the age of

55 in the ca.o;e of a woman on or befo re th e 31st ~cembe r , 1990;

,.d

(ii) Who has been in e mployment at the Malta Drydocks

fo r not less than iO years; a nd

(iii) Who, if he had to continue in employmellt up 10 the

age of 61 years in th e case of a man and up to the age of 60 years in

the case of a wo man would have satisfied tbe contributio n

condition for the awa rd of a two thirds pension in acoordance with

the provisions of the Social Security Act , 1987.

(b) 'llIe Scheme shall also include applicants who are

certified as medically unfit irrespective of their age.

6. The rate of pension shall be equivalent to two-thirds o f the

yearly average of the basic wage or salary ()3id during the best three

consecutive calendar years prior to ret irement under this scheme.

7. Applicants who become eligible for the scheme owing to a

medical condition shall, besides satisfying the condition of paragraph

(b) of rule 5, have the proportion of 213 substituted by the proportion

which th e number of co mplete months in employment at the Drydocks

bears to 540.

8. (i) Applicants who become e ligible for the scheme under

paragraph (b) of rule 5 shall present such medical certificates

confi rming their condition .

(ii) Such applicants shall be referred to a Medieal Panel

composed of the Senior Medical Offlecr of the Malta Drydocks, a

medical s~aHst appointed by the Management of the Malta

Drydocks a nd two medical specialists appointed for this purpose by

the Minister for Social Policy.

(iii) The Medical Panel shall seek the advice of Malta

Drydocks' techn ical experts in the field before reaching a decision.

9. The Medical Panel shall have the power 10 refer applicants to

undergo such tests at a Government Hospilal. as they may in thei r

opinion deem nccessary in order 10 consider claimants' inability fo r

work .

10. The Medica l Pane]"s opinion shall be referred to the

Committee only when there is di sagreement among members.

11 . The pension paid by the scheme shall be re-assessed annually

with effccl from the first Salurday in January of the ycar of the rc-

assessment in o rder to provide for any wage increases either as a resu lt

o f a general wage innease awarded by Government or as a result of an

increase in any wage structure of the Malta Drydocks. Soho wevcr thot ,

in Ihe case of a new wage struelu re at the Malta Drydoc ks. the

pensionable emoluments shall be increased on a corresponding point of

scale on lhe slructure.

12. A bonus equivalent to that payable under 5edion 91 o f the

Social Securi ty Act . 1987 s hall be paid to each pensioner.

A contribution in terms of the Social Security Act . 1987 shall

be: paid by the scheme to the pensioner soho .... eve r Ihal the contribut ion

paid by the scheme 10 the pensioner shall be equivale nt to the Oass 11

Social Security conlribution thal would be due on the income arising o ut

of the pension and bonus.

No 5uch contributio n shall be: due to be paid by the scheme

when the pensioner becomes en titled to a credited contribution under

the Social Secu rity Act, 1987.

A pension paKI unde r the scheme shall cease to be pa¥able on

the rirst Sm urda¥ folkJ .... ing the allai nment of pension age as defined in

the Social Securi t¥ Act , 1987.

An¥ applicant eligible for the schem e who has elect ed to join

the scheme shall be refused on l¥ if his retirement .... ould prejudice the

int erests of Malta Drydocks.

A pensioner .... ho is in recei pt of an tarl¥ retirement pension

under the sche me and who subsequen tly becomes gainfully occupied

shall forfeit his righ t to the full rate o f his e arly re tiremen t pension if the

aggregate o f thoe earnings be derives toge the r wi th the pension payable

under the scheme exceed Lm50 per annum the pensionable emol ume nts

on which his pensio n .... as comput ed . and a reduced rat e of pension

equivalent to the balance obtaini ng by deduct ing the earnings he derives

from the curre nt pensionable emol ume nts on which his pension .... as

computed together with the sum of Lm50 per an num shall become

payable.

A pensioner who is receivi ng an early retirement pension

under the $Cheme shall be bound 10 inroon the Manage ment of the

Malta Dryda<:ks about any activity through which earnings are derived .

Any non-disclosure of such mat eria l fact shall make the pensioner li ab le

10 refund any pension. bonuses and contributions paid bUf not due .··.

8. No thing in section 3 o f this Act shall effect any guarantee that

the Governme nt m u~ have given to any creditor of Malta Dryda<:u.

before The IS!. Janua ry 1989. and the liabi lity secu red by the Government

before Ihat date shall not he taken in consideration for the purposes o f

s«lion 9 o f (he principal Act as amended by section 3 of th is Act.

Passed by the House of Represe nTa tives at Sill ing No. 282 of the 21th July. 1989.

LAWREN CE G ONZ I

Spt>akt:r

P. M USCAT TEK RHl ILE

Clerk 10 Ihr flornr of RepreJemllli~rs

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