Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/357188
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 15 exclude the inked but also any posi- tion that involves meeting people. "In our experience in interviewing, it is very rare that someone comes to an interview showing a tattoo," she says, which might suggest that those with visible tattoos either skip the recruitment services sector entirely or are acutely aware of how their ap- pearance may affect their chances, and so cover up. As for employers, Grima says it is very rare for them to specify that they would not accept a candidate with visible tattoos. Certain employ- ers, such as gaming companies, soft- ware houses and call centres, would not disqualify a candidate because of visible tattoos. Still, it would appear that recruit- ers and employers have an unspoken understanding – tattoos and cus- tomer relations do not mix and any candidates hoping to reconcile both are going to have a difficult time. Leo, a tattooed businessman him- self, echoes these ideas. Although he has never interviewed anyone with visible tattoos, he admits that the business side of things would take precedence. "I would have to take a 'conserva- tive' stance and explain the fact that at times, tattoos and certain jobs are not compatible. People still have misconceptions about people with tattoos and I can tell you this from experience," he says. Leo points out a flaw in the rea- soning that if actors and athletes are getting inked, then the average per- son could get tattoos without much fuss. "People make the mistake of thinking that if David Beckham can get tattooed, they should too," he explains. "They forget that most fa- mous people do not have to look for a job. We commoners do." Few at work know about his own tattoos, a carefully researched col- lection of pieces he travels far and wide to collect, and he considers tat- toos a private part of his life. "I think tattoos are quite a private matter, especially if you believe, as I do, that people's opinion can change once they know you are tattooed," he explains. With evidence of this prejudice still obviously a concern for employ- ers and job candidates alike, why do people still get tattoos? They've been described as addictive and to Anna and Sarah, who both sport multiple designs, this seems to be true. "After the first one, you start to make excuses to have another, and another done," she laughs. "Some of them would have been at the back of my mind for ages - I just wouldn't know how or where to do them yet. Others are a bit more spur of the moment." Sarah's tattoos came about after a lot of research. Some are the re- sult of a precise image in her mind, which she then trusts her tattoo artist to match. Others were more unexpected, she says, which she dis- covered online and then fell in love with. Tattoos can be anything and mean anything. It's not unusual to come across people who have the names, dates of birth and sometimes dates of death of loved ones. Portraits are gaining ground. Famous quotes, re- productions of popular works of art and symbols with roots in everything from classical music to Japanese cartoons are finding their way onto people's skin. The only limitations are the imagination and how much blank canvas is left to fill. The incompatibility of visible tat- toos and employment seems to be both deep-seated and frequently be- ing circumvented. Someone with a full sleeve is not condemned to a life of unemployment but neither should they expect a corporate institution to welcome them with open arms. Of course despite evidence that the inked are finding fewer obstacles in their career path, it is telling that some names in this article have been changed, at their owners' request. ragius@mediatoday.com.mt JAMES DEBONO IN spite of employers' continuous lobbying to abolish it, the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) mecha- nism may have been one of the fac- tors that made wages in the Maltese private sector, stable. This is one of the conclusions of a report on wages submitted by indus- trial relations expert Saviour Rizzo to the European Industrial Relations Observatory. The report shows that over the last four years, the mean hourly la- bour cost in Malta went up by 9.3% to €12.30. But this rate remains far below the mean hourly rate of €23 in the EU states, and €28 per hour in the eurozone. According to Rizzo this means that the mandatory annual wage increase based on the COLA mechanism, about which the European Com- mission had expressed a measure of alarm, has not caused "a surge in wages in Malta compared to the other European countries." Rizzo notes that the lack of col- lective agreements that are binding on whole industry sectors, as hap- pens in other European countries, means that in spite of the relatively high percentage of unionised work- ers in Malta, a substantial number of workers do not benefit from wage increases apart from the annual COLA. "Thus the point made by the Mal- tese government that COLA may be conducive to the stability of wage settlements may have a high level of validity," Rizzo concludes. Another major factor for the sta- bility of wages in the private sector may have been the policy of wage moderation tacitly adopted by the trade unions in their collective bar- gaining. "Following the threats to redun- dancies during the financial crisis of 2008 and the austerity measures that they were forced to accept, the trade unions were gripped by the fear that burdening the companies with high- er labour costs may lead to redun- dancies or closures," the report says. It also shows that public sector wage growth in 2009 and 2010 was higher than in the private sector. However, wage growth in the public sector in 2011and 2012 slowed down to such an extent that the difference between the two sectors became minimal. But wage growth in the public sec- tor overtook that in the private sec- tor again in 2013 due to a collective agreement signed in October 2012 covering a period of six years, giving civil service employees a 2.5% annual salary increase. According to Rizzo the Maltese government played a "balancing act" by retaining COLA in order to main- tain industrial peace, adjusting the pay of civil service employees while keeping the status quo of the highly decentralised system of collective bargaining which has been condu- cive to moderate wage increases in the private sector. In June 2011 the EU Commission made a recommendation to the Maltese government to change the COLA mechanism. The then Minister of Finance, To- nio Fenech expressed his disagree- ment with doing away with COLA, arguing that this had contributed substantially to industrial stability. The Commission agreed to change the text of its recommendation call- ing on Malta to 'review' rather than 'change' its wage indexation system. News broken down tattoos? COLA mechanism 'contributing to wage stability' - study ... tattoos and certain jobs are not compatible. People still have misconceptions about people with tattoos... Pride: Sarah (above) wears her heart on her sleeve. Below: an inscription of gratitude, and the 'hipster sleeve' The COLA mechanism is discussed at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development