Migrants will no longer have to strike illegal employment deals on roadsides and Marsa roundabouts thanks to a new jobs centre to be opened next year, social policy consultant Silvan Agius said yesterday.
Addressing a conference on the impact of migration on the labour market, Mr Agius said the initiative would help regularise migrant employment as well as weed out abuse.
“This has been a long time coming and will help stop migrants having to turn to the streets to find work and end up abused and underpaid,” he said.
The centre, announced in the Budget earlier this month, is yet to be given an official title but Mr Agius explained that most of the details had already been worked out.
Many migrants either do not know they have the right to object to this or are too scared to do so
It will be operated by the Employment and Training Corporation and will provide employers with coupons to be ‘paid’ to the migrants. These will be exchangeable for cash back at the centre to ensure minimum standards of wage and overtime are enforced.
The centre will also act as a job brokerage – listing potential migrant employees’ skills and qualifications and cross-referencing them with potential employers. Yesterday’s conference, organised by the European Parliament Representation Office, focused heavily on the barriers migrants face when trying to enter the workforce legally.
One migrant told the conference of the difficulties she had faced finding work, particularly as she wore the hijab – a veil donned by Muslim women that covers the head and chest.
Mr Agius said that while it had been illegal to discriminate against veiled women since 2004, many employers got away with this due to under reporting to the authorities tasked with investigating.
“Many migrants either do not know they have the right to object to this or are too scared to do so,” he said. To combat the abuse, Mr Agius said the government would be allowing third parties such as NGOs and other organisations to file complaints on behalf of migrants who feel they have been discriminated against.
Class action, where a group of people file legal action after sharing similar experiences, would also be introduced in the coming months.
Jean Pierre Gauci, from the People for Change Foundation, said research had confirmed that a large number of local migrants were working in jobs that did not reflect their qualifications. His sentiments were shared by Saleh Ahmed, an Ethiopian graduate currently reading for a Master’s Degree at the University of Malta. Mr Ahmed said he had found it impossible to find work outside of the construction industry despite his qualifications.
The conference ended with a panel debate between MEPs Roberta Metsola, Therese Comodini Cachia, Marlene Mizzi and Miriam Dalli,who all said migrants were positive contributors to the economy.
“A human being can never subtract from our economy,” Dr Metsola said in reaction to concerns raised by a member of the audience.