EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini is working with European justice and employment officials to introduce harmonised EU legislation to mete out prison sentences for employers found illegally employing non-EU nationals.
Speaking recently, Mr Frattini said he was particularly concerned by the practice where unscrupulous employers reap enormous profits by exploiting migrants, adding that a new EU directive being explored would see employers hiring migrants without the required work permits facing jail sentences. The directive could be tabled as early as next year.
“When there are clear and intentional violations we have to punish, not the victim, but the violator, the employers,” Frattini commented. “These people are victims of businessmen who actively encourage work in the black economy. The idea of having criminal sanctions is a new proposal.”
Such migrants, since they effectively work off the grid, do not pay income tax, are not entitled to social security and are notoriously underpaid and overworked.
The Commission is to embark on a study on such undeclared work this autumn. The report will form a basis for the drawing up of legislation that will seek to harmonise sanctions against the practice, which currently varies greatly across the EU.
Malta’s construction industry has been shown on different occasions to be rife with illegal employment. Over recent years it has suffered a dearth of Maltese workers to man the sector, which is proving increasingly unattractive as an employment option. One contractor was given a six-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of employing a number of non-EU nationals last year, and narrowly avoided a three-year ban on applying for government contracts, a new measure introduced a year ago.
Several cases of pure exploitation have also been reported in Malta – such as migrants being denied their already-meagre salaries, beaten for requesting their wages and employers reporting migrants to the police just before payday so as to avoid paying wages. The General Workers Union has been particularly active in bringing such actions to light.
In the first five months of the year, 71 foreign nationals were found working illegally in Malta, while a total of 502 extra-EU nationals have been given work permits after being granted Temporary Protection Citizens (TPC) status.
Access to the Maltese labour market is also given to asylum seekers whose applications have not been processed within 12 months.
Without such qualifications, amendments to the work permit regime last August have provided that foreign workers will not be allowed to submit work permit applications if the applicant is already in Malta without a work permit.
The application has to be made by a potential employer through the Employment and Training Corporation, which is now responsible for issuing work permits and determining that the post in question cannot be filled by a Maltese citizen. The Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs Department still processes work permits, while the Industrial and Employment Relations Department monitors the working conditions of foreign nationals.
The new regulations also prevent contractors who illegally employ foreign workers from applying for government contracts for a three-year period, while harsher penalties for the illegal employment of foreigners are expected to be drawn up.