The issue of employees being subjected to precarious work – of a different nature to that shown here – was brought to the fore by the General Workers’ Union. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

All tender documents issued by government entities must include a series of mandatory clauses guarding against abuse by contractors who offer substandard working conditions.

The Government said yesterday that while it was holding talks with the social partners to address the issue of precarious conditions in the private sector, it had to set an example, which was why it announced the new measures.

The issue of employees being subjected to precarious work was brought to the fore by the General Workers’ Union, which is also naming and shaming companies.

The Office of the Prime Minister said that Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar wrote to all permanent secretaries, director generals, directors and heads of government entities to inform them of the changes that came into force on Monday.

The conditions lay down that subcontracting to third parties will no longer be allowed and that employees will be prevented from registering themselves as self-employed.

Contractors must be registered with the ETC and produce a written contract of service. In addition, a list of all employees has to be submitted on award of the contract. This must be accompanied by copies of the written contracts of service of the employees.

Subcontracting to third parties will no longer be allowed

Another condition is that workers must be given a detailed payslip with a breakdown of overtime, sick leave and social security contributions. Contractors are obliged to deposit employee salaries in their respective bank account through a direct pay-ment system.

The contractor must guarantee that bank statements of wage deposits and copies of payslips are available to the Director of Industrial and Employ-ment Relations.

Bidders must also specify the minimum hourly remuneration rate as well as a breakdown of the cost in cases where the tender document refers to a global sum covering a number of services.

The Government said that, in each case, the contracting authority would have to seek guidance from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations for an estimate of the minimum statutory hourly costs.

Once the contract is awarded and works are under way, employees will have to register on timesheets provided by the contracting authority.

The contract shall be terminated immediately in case these conditions or any employment legislation is breached. The company could also risk losing any other government contracts.

These conditions will also apply to contracts that are up for renewal.

The Government said that permanent secretaries, directors general, heads of department or other public entities would be held responsible for failure to fully implement this directive.