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Christine Calleja

Christine Calleja is a senior associate of the firm working in the employment law department. She has assisted various local and international companies in human resources matters, such as contract drafting, unfair dismissal claims, transfers of business and collective redundancies, as well as represented clients before the Maltese Industrial Tribunal and courts. Christine has also participated in educational seminars organised for the human resources industry as lecturer in this field.

Furthermore, forming part of the litigation team, Christine specialises in insurance claims, representing a major insurance company in Malta and also individual claimaints in insurance related matters.

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The importance (or otherwise) of disciplinary proceedings in dismissal cases Employment and Industrial Relations

The importance (or otherwise) of disciplinary proceedings in dismissal cases

In a recent judgment, James Buhagiar vs Jani Limited, delivered on the 26th January 2018, the Court of Appeal examined in quite some detail the issue of disciplinary proceedings in unfair dismissal cases.The employee had been dismissed following an accusation of theft. The disciplinary procedures in the employment contract had been ignored. On the basis of this, the Industrial Tribunal had concluded that the dismissal was in violation of the right to a fair hearing and of the employment conditions. The Tribunal ordered the employer to reinstate the employee in his previous post without loss of pay for the correct…
Christine Calleja
1st February 2018
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Sexual Harassment and Discrimination at the Forefront of the News Employment and Industrial Relations

Sexual Harassment and Discrimination at the Forefront of the News

The topic of discrimination and harassment featured prominently in last week's international news. BBC's former China editor, Carrie Grace, resigned from her post claiming pay discrimination based on gender, giving rise to the #IStandWithCarrie solidarity campaign. Meanwhile in Hollywood, during the Golden Globes, actresses wore black to take a stand against sexual harassment following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, in connection with the Time's Up movement. Locally, in an article published by the Times on the 12th January, it results that three out of every four women are sexually harassed at work. What is more shocking is that the blame-the-victim mentality…
Christine Calleja
17th January 2018
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Protection of Employment for those on a minimum wage. Employment and Industrial Relations

Protection of Employment for those on a minimum wage.

In April of last year, mandatory supplements were introduced for those earning the minimum wage, (and for those who earn slightly more than the minimum wage but less than the new minimum wage with the €3 supplement), by means of amendments to the National Minimum Wage National Standard Order (S.L. 452.71). The supplements are to be paid weekly upon completion of the first year of employment and another supplement is to be paid upon completion of the second year of employment. What is interesting to note is proviso (5) to regulation 4 of the Standard Order which effectively limits the…
Christine Calleja
8th January 2018
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Limiting post-termination of employment restraints? Employment and Industrial Relations

Limiting post-termination of employment restraints?

In a Court of Appeal judgment dated the 27th October 2017, in the names of Paul u martu Mariella Mizzi kif ezercenti l-kummerc that l-isem "The Foto Grafer" v David Serracino et, the court considered a clause in a contract which effectively bound an employee to his employer for a period of at least two years of employment, failing which the employee was liable to pay to the employer the sum of Lm10,000. This sum was to be repaid back in view of the investment made by the employer to train the employee for the initial two years and in…
Christine Calleja
22nd November 2017
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€350,000 in damages for breaching fiduciary obligations Employment and Industrial Relations

€350,000 in damages for breaching fiduciary obligations

In the recent judgment of M.A.I.N. Services Limited et v Albert Galea et (case 1246/07 JZM) delivered on the 28th September 2017, the Court examined in quite extensive detail the nature and the effects of fiduciary duties.The defendant had been a director and a trusted employee of the plaintiff company. Following his resignation from the company, a major foreign supplier ceased its business relationship with the company and started doing business with the defendant. In its judgment, the Court deemed that even following his resignation from the company as employee and director, the defendant had remained a fiduciary of the…
Christine Calleja
27th October 2017
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Employers Beware before ‘Spying’ on Employees! Employment and Industrial RelationsNews

Employers Beware before ‘Spying’ on Employees!

In a case decided last year, in the famous case of Barbulescu v Romania, the ECHR had found that there had been no breach of the employee's right to privacy when his employer dismissed him over private messages sent at work on the Yahoo messenger system set up by the same employer for work purposes. The employee's private online exchanges were being monitored and recorded by his employer. Personal use, such as that made by the employee, was in violation of the employer's internal regulations. The employer had proceeded to terminate his employment with the local Romanian county court, and…
Christine Calleja
5th September 2017