Closed school ordered to pay former teachers one year's salary

A school has been ordered to pay three teachers a full year's salary each in termination benefits, after a court ruled that collective agreements can continue to bind parties even after its expiration.

Plaintiffs Maria Antonia Agius, Mary Azzopardi and Carmen Micallef Grimaud had been employed by Garendon School in Zebbug for many years before it ceased operations in 2014. The three teachers, all members of the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), had been informed that their employment would be terminated as the school was closing down and had been paid the salaries they were due up till the beginning of the 2013/2014 scholastic year.

The teachers filed a case before the First Hall of the Civil Court, arguing that under a collective agreement the school had entered into with the MUT, they were entitled to an additional one full year's salary as termination benefits should the school close down.

Garendon School and the school Principal, Marlene Tua, had counter-argued that the collective agreement had expired and had not been renewed and was therefore no longer in force.

The court was told that since 2002, the MUT had made several attempts to discuss the agreement with the school, with the aim of revising it, but had been rebuffed.

The school had told the plaintiffs that it would be ceasing operations after their dismissal, but they had found out that it continued to run its kindergarten. The Director General of the Education Department testified that Tua had informed the department that she had initially intended to shut the school down but had then decided to only keep the kindergarten operating.

Tua had argued that according to law, the plaintiffs could only ask for a debt to be repaid, and that the school had paid what was owed to them, meaning full payment for the days they had worked, and not one-year’s-salary as stipulated in the collective agreement, which she argued had expired on 31 August 2002.

Furthermore, she argued that even if the collective agreement had been in effect, a clause stipulates that they are only entitled to termination benefits should the school have closed down, which she said was not the case.

Judge Jacqueline Padovani Grima found for the plaintiffs, saying that it was the court's considered opinion that the defendants had kept just the kindergarten open in an effort to slip out of their obligation under the collective agreement.

“Were the court to accept the defendant's arguments, it would be creating an opportinity for employee's rights to be abused by granting employers the option of using similar attacks to stultify the application of a collective agreement it had signed and not pay its empooyees their dues.”

The court said it felt this argument to be “symptomatic of the lack of appreciation on the part of the defendants towards the plaintiffs,” who had provided services in excess of those they were contractually obliged to provide, for free.

Finding for the plaintiffs, the court ordered the teachers be paid the one year salary each as contemplated in the agreement and confirmed that a collective agreement does not lapse upon expiry, but remains valid until it is replaced by a new collective agreement.

Plaintiffs Maria Antonia Agius, Mary Azzopardi and Carmen Micallef Grimaud, all members of the Malta Union of Teachers [MUT], were represented by lawyers Dr Michael Tanti-Dougall and Dr Jonathan Spiteri

Defendant Marlene Tua and Garendon School were represented by lawyer Dr Adrian Camilleri.