Companies breaching public procurement regulations or the Employment Act could be liable to being blacklisted for between six months and two years by a special tribunal, according to a legal notice published today.

Their services would also be terminated with immediate effect, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told a news conference at Castille this afternoon. He said that this initiative was part of government's resolve to address precarious employment. 

Dr Muscat said the small number of abusers were ingenious enough to exploit any potential loopholes. "Ending up blacklisted is no joke," he said.

"The small minority of employers who insist in their abuse are being warned that we will keep up our resolve to combat precarious employment," he warned.

He said the government's next challenge was to introduce qualitative criteria in public procurement and not base adjudication solely on price. "In this sense we have already stopped the race to the bottom," Dr Muscat said.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said that the measure was preempting a European directive which was yet to come into force. A commercial sanctions tribunal made up of three members wouldbe set up within the finance ministry, with power to blacklist contractors at fault.

Equal Opportunities Minister Helena Dalli said onsite inspections had increased and more inspectors had been employed.

Principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar said that the majority of cases involved companies in the cleansing or security sectors.

He outlined measures taken by the Labour administration, including new public procurement regulations, and a minimum rate of €5.78 for contractors engaged for cleansing and security services.