Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1372546
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MAY 2021 Labour leads by 39,000 votes as PN tumbles CONTACT Adriana Farrugia or Erika Arrigo on 21382741 for sponsorship opportunities SCAN THIS CODE TO WATCH JUDGE EMERITUS JOSEPH ZAMMIT MCKEON INTERVIEWED Asian couriers are paying thousands in commissions to get Malta delivery job NICOLE MEILAK A Lithuanian national and his employment agency Recruit- giant are at the heart of an illegal kickback scheme that makes thousands off the backs of Asian couriers. Recruitgiant is a local com- pany owned by Tomas Mika- lauskas, director of the Lithu- anian Chamber of Commerce in Malta. The company's sole shareholder is Gavitis Ltd, a Cypriot company set up only five months ago by Mikala- uskas himself. Recruitgiant's employment strategy involves hiring job- seekers, largely from South- east Asia, to work in the Mal- tese market. One courier who sought a vacancy with Recruitgiant re- called to MaltaToday how a company spokesperson asked him to pay €1,000 into UK company bank account owned by Tomas Mikalauskas, with another 25,000 Indian rupees to be paid into an Indian com- pany called The We Assist. This is an initial payment to kickstart the recruitment pro- cess. After the courier's appli- cation is approved, another €1,000 need to be paid to Mi- kalauskas' UK account, and once the visa is issued, a fur- ther €1,000 is deposited into the account. These thousands go towards UK company TMPS London Ltd, standing for Tomas Mi- kalauskas Pvt Services. The company was incorporated on 15 March 2018, a few months before Recruitgiant was set up in Malta. A look at the com- pany's balance sheet for 2020 shows that TMPS had exact- ly £1 worth of current assets to its name, including cash at bank or in hand. Another courier told Malta- Today that the expenses run higher when applying for a Re- cruitgiant vacancy from India. In this scenario, Recruitgiant benefit from intermediary recruitment agencies based around Southeast Asia, that also take several thousands in Indian rupees as a commission fee, over and above the thou- sands paid to TMPS. Recruitgiant is also one of the companies taking a 50% pay- cut from couriers employed with them. MaltaToday re- vealed last January how food couriers are losing half their wages in illegal employment practices adopted by recruit- ment agencies, whereby cou- riers will work up to 80 hours just to earn 50% of the expect- ed monthly salary. Among the claims heard is that Recruitgiant stipulates a weekly income target that stands at €450 per week, but repercussions are not severe if the goal isn't reached. Failing to reach the mark warrants a call from the company to check why it wasn't reached and to see if everything is okay. This practice, both of charg- ing thousands in recruitment fees and taking a 50% pay-cut, appears to be illegal at first glance of the Employment Agencies Regulations. The law stipulates that an employment agency license could be re- voked on the grounds that the licensee has charged any fees or demanded any payment from applicants for employ- ment. It also clearly states in Ar- ticle 10 that no payments or charges shall be demanded or levied on any applicant for employment in consideration of such employment or in con- sideration of registration, put- ting Recruitgiant's and other recruitment agencies' employ- ment practices in dubious le- gal standing. However, it is unclear wheth- er Jobsplus or the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations. MaltaToday tried reaching out to both entities for clarification, but to no avail. In the meantime, the newly launched Employment Agen- cies Business Section within the Malta Chamber of Com- merce has come out in strong condemnation of this practice. The chairperson of the sec- tion, Lawrence Zammit, said that law enforcement in the area of private employment services is sorely lacking and that the Chamber's objective is to ensure a level playing field in the market and an up- grade in the quality of service delivered to employers and job seekers. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt