New Employment Agencies Regulations (LN270 of 2023) were issued today the 23rd of November 2023.Who does it affect?
- All recruitment agencies that seek recruits in order for them to be employed by other organisations;
- All labour supply companies, temporary work agencies or employers of record that supply employees to other user undertakings, where those employees are supervised and controlled by the user undertakings;
- All service companies that supply a service to other user undertakings and which have employees sent to the user undertakings as part of the service, even though the employees remain under the supervision and control of the service companies;
- Indirectly, it also affects all organisations that use sub-contractors or the abovementioned companies in order to supply labour or in order to supplement their staff compliment.
From when does it apply?
The regulations will begin to apply from April 2024, and entities in scope will have until June 2024 to obtain the required licenses. The Department of Industrial Relations should be accepting licence applications as from January 2024.
What does it say?
The regulations are aimed at creating a licencing system whereby in order to operate the businesses as described above the individual or the company is to hold a valid licence issued by the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations. Applications for the licence are to be submitted after the 1st January 2024. In order to obtain a licence an individual residing in Malta is to be appointed as a competent person and such person is to be approved by the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations as being fit and proper to manage the employment agency or the employment business. The regulations also establish an administration board to manage the utilisation of a bank guarantee which temporary agencies or the outsourcing agencies have an obligation to provide.
In the coming months, amendments to EIRA are also being expected in order to create an ad hoc Appeals Board in order to hear appeals from various decisions of the DIER in terms of the regulations.
We shall shortly be organising a number of sessions and events on this topic, so keep your eyes peeled for further information. Should you require further information on the regulations please contact Lara Pace or Matthew Brincat
Author: Matthew Brincat, Lara Pace
Date: 23rd November 2023