With effect from Tuesday, companies that breach employment laws or public procurement regulations will face being blacklisted for up to two years.
The government had announced the new measure last March and a legal notice published on Friday brings the measure into force as of 1 September.
The new rules provide for the establishment of a Commercial Sanctions Tribunal which could blacklist contractors for a period ranging from six months to two years.
Back in March, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had described the measure as the greatest disincentive that could be offered to employers who persist in finding ways to get around regulations meant to ensure that workers have decent working conditions.
He noted that, over the past few years, a number of measures have been introduced to address loopholes, but also said that employers who engage in precarious employment practices have proved to be quite ingenious in finding new loopholes to exploit.
The introduction of blacklisting, Dr Muscat said, may not put an end to such practices, but it sent a strong signal to employers who sought to persist in them.
“Ending up blacklisted is no joke,” he had added.
According to Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar, the government is currently involved in over 100 contracts outsourcing cleaning services, clerical services, care work or security work to private contractors, and he stressed that a number of measures to address precarious employment practices have been taken in recent years.
As from Tuesday, any such contracts have to ensure that employees receive at least the same wages paid to government employees in the same position to put an end to a longstanding anomaly. Mr Cutajar explained that it is estimated that this measure will cost the government an additional €5 million this year.
The government is now planning to introduce qualitative criteria in public procurement instead of adjudicating contracts solely on the basis of price, pointing out that the establishment of minimum standards has largely equalised bidders’ prices. The government intends to assess bids according to the level of service provided, pointing out that this often reflected the wages contractors offered to their employees.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna – whose Ministry is responsible for public procurement – remarked in March that the establishment of the tribunal pre-empts an expected EU directive on the matter. The tribunal, which will consist of three people whose appointment is expected to be announced in the coming days, is set to gain more powers when this directive comes into force, but Prof. Scicluna noted that the government did not want to wait any longer when it came to blacklisting employers who resort to precarious employment practices.