Contractors will be blacklisted from any government contracts for three years if they employ foreigners without a work permit, the government announced yesterday as part of the strict but streamlined laws aimed at regulating foreign workers.

It will no longer be possible for non-EU foreigners to apply for work permits if they are already residing in Malta, while tough penalties will be handed out to employers breaching the new laws.

Speaking during a news conference, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Education and Employ-ment Minister Louis Galea said the new laws were intended to give a boost to hard-to-fill jobs and control illegal employment.

From August 1, the issuing of work permits will be shifted from the Home Affairs Ministry to the Employment and Training Corporation.

The ministry will, however, remain responsible for internal security, through the police force.

EU workers will be obliged to register their application via the ETC through their employer.

Non-EU workers will be requested to apply through the ETC on a specific form and to pay a specific fee according to the regulations. But contrary to the current standard practice, their application will not be considered or approved if the worker concerned is already residing in Malta.

Permits will be issued for a maximum period of one year and may be renewed if the application is made before the application expires.

In what could be considered a one-time concession, the government will be regularising the employment of foreign workers who entered Malta before July 1 and for whom no application had been submitted.

Employers are requested to present the requested forms together with payment to the ETC between August 1 and 31. Heavy fines will be imposed on those who fail to fall in line.

Stressing that Maltese workers should always be preferred to foreigners, Dr Galea said it was important to manage work applications for foreigners more effectively to ensure economic growth.

Together with employers, the government wants to devise a system where it can manage the number of foreigners on the market, the period of time for which they are needed, and under which conditions. Strict guidelines will be introduced for self-employed foreigners.

The existing regime guiding refugees and those that have obtained humanitarian protection will remain unchanged.

Dr Galea said it was becoming increasingly difficult to find workers for certain jobs, like the construction and catering industries - the new laws were specifically mapped out to cater for this shortcoming by enticing foreigners.

Dr Galea said that an estimated 3,000 foreigners were currently working legally in Malta but admitted it was difficult to establish the number of those working illegally.

For this reason, plans were in the pipeline to co-ordinate the inspectors at the ETC, the Social Security Department and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority better.

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