Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/413175
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2014 News 9 August, was never given a play slip or a receipt for the payments he received. "I was given a number of small advance payments in cash be- cause when I first came here I had no money to buy food or bus tickets to go to work." He said that after giving up on be- ing paid, he resigned and went to the ETC to file a report and when the company got to know about this, the directors promised to pay him "to the last cent." But after going to the company of- fices, he was only given €300 in cash. "After talking to the company di- rectors on a number of occasions at their offices in Birkirkara, I was promised that I would be paid. How- ever they never fulfilled their promise and after that I went to the Depart- ment of Industrial and Employment Relations who worked things out for me." The man was told that the depart- ment would make the claim on his behalf, however if the company does not pay him his dues, he could per- sonally initiate legal proceedings against the company. When the man, together with a co-national who had also resigned, went to the ETC to apply for a new job, they were told that JF Services had not registered their employment termination. The two men returned to the com- pany's offices in Birkirkara to have the termination formula signed, but after waiting in vain for around three hours they were warned by their former female supervisor to "watch your shoulders". Other foreign workers who spoke to MaltaToday confirmed that they were owed money by JF Services and claimed that they were employed il- legally and no contracts were ever signed. These include another Romanian national who is owed €399 in unpaid wages over a 16-day period and sub- Saharan migrants who never signed a contract or had their National In- surance paid. The workers who spoke to Malta- Today said that JF Services employs at least another 20 non-EU citizens under the same conditions, but as one worker explained "they do not speak up because they are afraid of being kicked out of the country since most of them do not have the neces- sary permits." These include men from Serbia, Somalia and sub-Saharan countries, the workers said. Contacted by MaltaToday, JF Serv- ices director Peter Formosa con- firmed that his company employed foreigners as fire warders, however denied any wrongdoing. Asked whether his company had failed to pay any of the current or former workers, Formosa said, "It's definitely not true. I deny it categori- cally." He said that all his company's em- ployees were paid according to law, adding that JF Services had fully collaborated with the Department of Industrial and Employment Rela- tions by providing all the informa- tion requested. On whether his company still had foreign workers on its books, For- mosa said "These foreigners are a funny brand of people…they're not like us. We made use of them for five weeks but now we do not employ any foreigners." jbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt backbreaking jobs remain unpaid The young Romanian, an AutoCAD designer, worked as a Fire Warder at Palumbo for five weeks – in one week he worked 12-hour shifts every day and was paid €3.60 per hour