Labour migration policy to start being gradually implemented 'in coming days'
Byron Camilleri pledges a gradual implementation to 'not to shock the system'
Malta’s labour force migration policy will start being implemented “in the coming days”, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri announced on Wednesday.
Speaking in Parliament during question time and in response to questions from Nationalist Party MP Darren Carabott, Camilleri said the policy will be implemented gradually “so as not to shock the system” following a thorough consultation phase with all stakeholders.
Last January the government had announced the new policy featuring a raft of measures aimed at regulating foreign workers and curb abuse.
Measures will oblige employers to favour Maltese and EU workers, retain their non-EU workers and treat them well and encourages non-EU workers who are already working in Malta to stay, upskill and integrate into Maltese communities.
The policy is based on four principles: retaining existing workers, protecting workers' rights and conditions, aligning labour migration to workforce needs and refocusing migration on a skills-based approach. It proposes 32 different measures.
One of the measures highlighted by Camilleri was that salaries must be paid directly in workers’ bank accounts and not in cash “as that is a form of abuse”.
“A timeline will be laid out on how these measures will be implemented,” Camilleri said, adding that the government had consulted and informed “everyone”.