Engagements and terminations
Employers are required by law to notify Jobsplus of any new employees by completing an engagement form. Self-employed persons are also required by law to complete this form.
Employers are also required to notify the Corporation of any termination of employment of any employees by completing a termination form.
Jobsplus will acknowledge all engagement and termination forms received within fifteen days of receipt. Forms are to be sent by post or by hand at Jobsplus, Sir Arturo Mercieca Street, Victoria Gozo VCT 2024 or by email at hriu.jobsplus@gov.mt. Alternatively, employers can submit the engagement and termination forms through the online facility. For further information, employers may contact Jobsplus on 22201955 / 1891 / 1612 / 1615.
New entrants in the labour market
If an employer is recruiting a person who has never worked before, the following documents must be presented:
- A copy of the employee’s identification card;
- The NI 3, which the new employee must acquire from the district office of the Department of Social Security;
- The employment licence in the case of a third country national and EU nationals undergoing a transitional phase;
- A certificate from the Department of Citizenship and Expatriates, Evans Building, St. Elmo Place, Valletta in case of a person born aboard but who possesses dual citizenship.
Restricted employment of minors of compulsory school age
Legal Notice 110 of 1993, Paragraph 6 stipulates that:
No person shall employ a minor of compulsory school age except:
- Where the Minister responsible for education grants written permission to employ such minor in terms of article 43(1) and (2) of the Education Act; or
- Under an apprenticeship indenture or training scheme approved by the Minister responsible for education in virtue of article 43(3) of the Education Act.
Where such permission for employees under 16 years of age (or of 16 years of age during the scholastic year starting September 15th and ending July 14th, both dates inclusive) is given, they will require an exemption certificate, which may be obtained from the Directorate of Educational Services, Triq Fra Gaetano Pace Forno, Hamrun HMR 1100 (telephone number 21228349 / 21228350).
The form must be duly filled and signed by:
- Both parents or the parent who has the child’s legal custody or a guardian – who will be approving that the child works during an established time frame, in a particular occupation and with a particular employer.
- The employer who is pledging to provide the job to the child/minor – stating clearly the type of work the minor shall be carrying out.
- The child’s current school headmaster/headmistress – who will be approving his/her absence from school.
The prospective employer is expected to provide a risk assessment as stipulated in the legal notice governing Youth Employment (Legal notice 440 of 2003) to the competent authorities. A copy of this assessment should be attached to the form at application stage. The duly filled application and the risk assessment for the particular job the minor is expected to perform are to be submitted to the Directorate of Educational Services (DES) for their consideration and approval. Should the DES find no objection for the minor to be granted absence from school for employment purposes, the application shall be forwarded to the Department of Industrial and Employment Regulations (DIER), 121, Melita Street, Valletta (telephone number 21224245/6).
If there are no objections on the part of DIER, an approval letter is submitted to the DES for the eventual issue of the school exemption (or rather the no objection to work).
The DIER issues a list of conditions that both employer and minor have to adhere to during the duration of the proposed employment.
Once the school exemption is issued, the applicant is required to obtain his National Insurance number from the Department of Social Services. The NI number will only be granted upon presentation of the said exemption. This number must be duly filled in the minor’s engagement form.
The employer is required to complete the engagement form of the said minor and send it to Jobsplus on the first day of employment. A copy of the school exemption form supplied by the DES is to be attached to the engagement form, together with the all the documentation submitted to DES.
The process usually takes up to twenty-five days, thus, minors wishing to secure an employment have to submit their application to the DES at least a month before the actual start of employment.
These conditions are also applicable for summer jobs.