The government has granted a licence to a company to act as a recruitment agency for foreign workers even though its owner failed to reach the necessary criteria through a different company just a few weeks earlier.

Investigations by The Shift show that after years of supplying third-country national workers to various companies in Malta, JK Security Limited, owned by Kevin Borg, a 45-year-old businessman from Attard, failed to meet the newly established criteria for continuing to provide such services.

A due diligence exercise by the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) established that Borg’s companies, JK Security Ltd and JK Services Ltd, did not qualify for the licence to operate a recruitment and outsourcing agency, and his application was withdrawn.

The criteria include tax compliance, a bank guarantee and a competent person, among the main requirements.

While he continued to supply workers without a licence, Borg registered a new company, Worldwide Outsourcing Ltd, based at the same address as his botched companies.

He was issued a new licence after reapplying for a licence to act as a recruitment agency through the newly registered company.

DIER did not explain. The Director General, Daine Vella Muscat, only said: “The process for granting or declining a licence for an employment agency to operate is governed by a due diligence procedure and a working committee that reviews and recommends whether the licence should be issued.  Regarding specific cases, I am not at liberty to disclose information pertaining to ongoing investigations. ”

She said the information was incorrect but did not bother to explain it.

Charging his employees for his wrongdoing

Kevin Borg made his employees pay €300 to transfer them to the new company.

Some of Borg’s employees who contacted The Shift complained that they were being forced to pay for their boss’ failures so that they could keep their jobs.

“We are just keeping our jobs and it is not our fault that our boss did not have his papers in order,” an employee said.

The message Kevin Borg sent to his employees. On his right, Acting President of Malta, Frank Bezzina

Efforts to contact Kevin Borg proved futile.

Sources in the hospitality industry described this episode as an example of the mismanagement of the whole licensing scheme, describing what is going on at the DIER as “one big joke”.

They claimed that DIER enforcement is poor. The agency does not even have the required inspectors to enforce the rules.

The DIER falls under the remit of the Office of the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul. Questions sent to him were referred to DIER.

Kevin Borg and his companies had already made news before. The Times of Malta reported that nine months after JK Security recruited a group of third-country nationals to work at a Christmas Village in Ta’ Xbiex, they were still expecting to be paid. Some were owed around €1,500 for a month’s work but did not receive a cent.

The employees claimed that Borg had even refused to give some workers part of their dues, even though they risked becoming homeless as they did not have enough money to pay their landlords.

Borg admitted to not paying his workers, as he said the operator of the Christmas village had not paid him for his services.

Later, he said that he withheld payments as he was investigating some workers who reportedly stole from the Christmas activity.

New legislation to control the influx of foreign workers in Malta was introduced in June after years of a government-fuelled ‘free-for-all’, with claims of worker exploitation becoming the order of the day.

As of June, all recruitment and outsourcing agencies are required to hold an operating licence. Yet many continue to operate irregularly.