A quarter of businesses irregularly employing workers from outside the EU last year were from the hospitality sector, according to government figures.

Of the 1,695 employers found to have irregularly engaged workers from outside the EU – persons known as third country nationals (TCNs) – 436 were active in accommodation and food services, home affairs ministry figures show.

These accounted for 26% of the total, with the sector by far the most represented among the 20 listed.

The next most represented sector was wholesale and retail trade including the repair of vehicles and motorcycles (267 employers), followed by administration (179) and construction (168).

Times of Malta requested the breakdown after Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri revealed the number of employers found to have employed non-EU workers irregularly last year in response to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Graziella Attard Previ.

Figures tabled in parliament show the number of such irregular employers increased year-on-year from 2021 to 2023, albeit at a slowing pace; while 1,060 employers were caught in 2021, by the next year this had jumped 36% to 1,446.

The following year, this number increased by less than half the previous rate, rising by 17% to 1,695 employers.

Responding to questions, a home affairs ministry spokesperson said almost nine out of 10 businesses (88%) caught employing third country nationals irregularly had regularised their position, with the rest either fined or sent to court.

“The remaining 12% were either given a fine... or referred to the Courts of Justice,” the spokesperson said, noting more than a quarter of offending employers (29%) were referred to court.

Employers were referred to the courts if their workers were without an employment record and work permit or had a permit with another employer, she explained.

Businesses whose workers had no employment record but a valid permit with that same employer were issued a fine instead, she said.

The spokesperson added the country’s employment agency, Jobsplus undertakes “regular monitoring mechanisms, including physical inspections and administrative checks to ensure that employers abide by the local labour market regulations”.

She did not respond to questions about what actions, if any, had been taken against those workers found to have been employed irregularly and if any had been deported from the country.

Hospitality workers, especially food couriers, have been linked to irregular employment and working conditions in the past, with one study from the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) finding such workers were not getting enough time to rest.

The study also found employers had deducted money from their workers’ first salary to pay for their uniforms and work equipment.