Workers whose employers have received a COVID-19 wage supplement on their behalf will be individually informed by the government to weed out any employers who have pocketed the money themselves.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said he has been approached by some workers who hadn’t received their wages even though Malta Enterprise should have forwarded the wage supplement to their employers.

“We’ve already said that checks and balances are there and action will be taken if there’s any abuse,” he said. “Workers whose employers have received a wage supplement will now receive a personalised letter informing them of this.”

“If there are employers who have withheld their employees’ money from them, then they’re truly in a minority but we’re going to take that minority seriously and there are strong legal processes that will apply in such cases.”

Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia said a small unit has been set up to receive and look into claims put forward by employees should they not receive the wage supplement approved for them to their employer.

As it stands, Malta Enterprise has received 16,838 full wage supplement applications, covering 60,458 full-time jobs and 10,813 part-time jobs. Out of these, 11,769 applications have been approved, covering 42,447 full time jobs and 9,766 part-time jobs, a total of €33.6 million.

This means just over 18,000 full-time employees and 1,047 part-time employees are still waiting for their wage supplement,

Meanwhile, Malta Enterprise has received around 3,000 applications for partial wage supplements by employers who have remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic but whose business has taken a substantial hit.

Out of these, 2,388 have so far been approved, covering 13,630 employees, meaning just over 8,000 workers are still waiting for their wage supplement.