Access to the labour market

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Beneficiaries of international protection have access to the labour market both as employees and self-employed workers.[1] They are entitled to access the labour market under the same conditions as Maltese nationals. To do so, they need an employment licence issued by JobsPlus. The maximum duration of the employment licence is 12 months and is renewable. In such cases, the person is granted an employment licence in their own name. Obstacles in this area include the application costs. A new application costs €58, while annual renewal costs €34.[2]

They are eligible for all positions, saving those reserved for Maltese and/or EU nationals, thereby excluding the vast majority of positions within the public service. They also have access to employment training programmes at JobsPlus.

In its input to a national integration consultation, the MRC urged the authorities to grant access to the public service for beneficiaries of international protection.[3]

The report published by UNGDAW following its visit to Malta commented that a number of labour requirements tend to penalise migrant women[4].

A report published in December 2021 by JRS and aditus foundation entitled ‘In Pursuit of Livelihood: An in-depth investigation of asylum-seekers’ battle against poverty and social exclusion in Malta’ investigated the phenomenon of poverty among asylum-seekers in an in-depth manner, with a focus on exploring the causes and maintaining factors of asylum-seekers’ livelihood difficulties. The report draws on data collected by interviewing the head of household on income and health indicators, deprivation and dwelling conditions from 116 households. It concluded that “The combined impact of a steep rise in cost of living, including an exponential surge in rent prices, on one hand, and stagnant wages on another, emerged clearly as one of the main factors. Another significant factor appears to be the reality that most asylum-seekers, due to a mix of poor English or Maltese, basic levels of education, racial discrimination and low transferability of job-related skills and competencies, are restricted to a very limited section of the employment market. At best, participants could aim for jobs slightly above the minimum wage, with no or little chances of progression. In this regard, in Malta’s current economic climate, the best they can aim for may still not be enough to lift them out of poverty, especially if they need to support a family. Furthermore, limited access to financial services appears to act as another barrier towards financial stability for this population.”[5]

A report on employment of third-country nationals, published in the context of the 2020-2022 project ‘Turning The Tables’, implemented by the Government’s Human Rights Directorate in cooperation with the NGO African Media Association (Malta), echoed these challenges and underlined how the changing landscape of Malta’s employment sector has negatively affected third-country nationals. It summarised the employment sector for migrants and refugees as being “marked by hardship, including: discriminatory wages; rampant exploitation and abuse; precarity and lack of security; racism and xenophobia; and also high job mobility (compromising skill building and training). For a substantial number, especially asylum-seekers and refugees, chronic unemployment is also a solid reality.”[6]

A June 2023 report by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, the relatively high number of non-Maltese fatalities on construction site was flagged.[7] In the same vein, in January 2024 a report was published looking into various issues relating to the construction industry.[8] Commenting on the racialised labour market and the extensive exploitation of migrant workers, the report generally concluded that, “Disempowered by the various economic, legal, and wider socio-cultural factors, migrant workers’ effective capacity to take simple steps to protect their safety, such as reporting unsafe work practices to the Occupational Health & Safety Authority (OHSA), approaching a union, or even changing jobs when feeling unsafe, is severely limited. What may seem like normal channels of redress for individuals with citizenship rights, good social and economic capital, knowledge of formal and informal institutional setups, access to the right people, and sufficient language skills, are far from normal and straightforward for those lacking these attributes.”

For 2023, JobsPlus provided the following data:

JobsPlus does not keep information on unemployment rates.

[1] Regulation 20(c), Procedural Regulations, Subsidiary Legislation 420.7 of the Laws of Malta

[2] Jobsplus, https://tinyurl.com/bd2ahv92.

[3] Malta Refugee Council, Input on the National Integration Policy and Action Plan Consultation, June 2023, at: https://tinyurl.com/3u6km49p.

[4] OHCHR, UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, End of Mission Statement, July 2023, at: https://bit.ly/3UPBrr2.

[5] JRS and aditus foundation, In Pursuit of Livelihood: An in-depth investigation of asylum-seekers’ battle against poverty and social exclusion in Malta, December 2021, available at https://bit.ly/3IPkoPT

[6] Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation, Turning the Tables Report on Employment, 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3WS4IE9. 

[7] Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Victims of Malta’s Construction Boom: The Fatal Wait for Accountability, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3wNxxaf.

[8] Justice and Peace Commission, The ‘Ejja Ejja’ Culture: An Analysis of socio-economic, political and legal factors with impact the health and safety of workers in the construction industry, January 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/snmycnne.