A total of 497 people have been removed from the unemployment register by the Employment and Training Corporation in the first six months this year after they were caught working while registering for work.

In recent months the ETC has carried out a series of investigations into a number of people who were registering for employment. The corporation’s Law Compliance Unit found 106 people who were working while registering for work. Another 295 people were removed from the register after refusing work opportunities offered to them by the corporation, while another 96 were struck-off because of their refusal to undergo training programmes provided to them free of charge.

The ETC treats such cases as very serious and appreciates the help of the public. The public can assist the ETC in its efforts to curb any abuse by reporting any cases of illegal employment on its freephone service 8007-6501.