In
this Section:
- GIBRALTAR
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
- GIBRALTAR TRUST MANAGEMENT
- GIBRALTAR PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
- GIBRALTAR BANKING AND
FINANCIAL SERVICES
- GIBRALTAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS
- GIBRALTAR INTERNET AND
E-COMMERCE FACILITIES
- GIBRALTAR RESIDENCE AND
PROPERTY
Gibraltar
Labour Regulation
Businesses
in Gibraltar are required to register their and
their employees' details with the Employment and
Training Board - details of the business within
3 months of commencement, and details of employees
within 14 days of engagement. Job vacancies must
also be notified to the Board, since it administers
the work permit system. This is no mere bureaucratic
form-filling exercise: the Board's stamped and
signed Notice of Terms of Engagement is needed
for an employee to obtain a Registration Card
from the Immigration Department, or a Social Insurance
Card from the Department of Labour and Social
Security. An employer pays G£26 per employee
per annum to the Board's Employers' Insolvency
Fund, which compensates the employees of insolvent
enterprises for unpaid wages etc.
Gibraltar's
labour legislation largely mirrors that of the
UK, with a system of Industrial Tribunals to deal
with cases of unfair dismissals etc. Unions exist
in Gibraltar, but employees are not obliged to
join them. There is legislation which permits
statutory determination of wage levels in the
event of an impasse between management and workers.
The statutory minimum of holidays is 2 weeks,
rising to 3 weeks after 5 years, in addition to
public holidays.
Social
security contributions are compulsory for employed
persons, but voluntary for the self-employed.
There is a normal range of benefits, but access
to them is tied to contribution record in many
cases. Insurance contributions are payable at
a standard flat rate for each week of employment.
The standard rate in 2005 was £46.95, of
which £20.75 is paid by the insured person
and £26.20 is paid by the employer. Self-employed
persons paid £23.98 per week at that time.
There are other rates relating to Pensioners,
Voluntary Contributors, Juveniles and other employments
for which reduced rates of contributions are payable.
In
November 2006, the government published
new proposals to reform the jurisdiction's system
of social security contributions.
The
proposals aimed to ensure that low paid workers,
genuine part time workers and casual workers pay
significantly lower social insurance contributions,
and were scheduled to come into effect on 1 January
2007.
The
new scheme is based on earnings, but contributions
are capped and hundreds of low paid and part-time
workers enjoy reductions in their contribution
rates.
The
new proposed scheme also introduced reforms ensuring
that future part-time workers would be entitled
to an old age pension. Under the previous Scheme
part-time workers (i.e. those working, or registered
as working less than 15 hours a week) did not
accrue a right to an old age pension.
There
is a statutory minimum wage which was increased
from £4 to £4.50 per hour with effect
from 1st July 2005.
As
Gibraltar is part of the EU, EU nationals have
the right of free movement of labour and should
have no difficulty in obtaining a resident's card.
Gibraltar does not encourage "low grade"
labour because it has fairly full employment with
many Spanish commuting daily as well as a good
number of ex-pats. However, special skills such
as IT are in demand due to the country's endeavours
to encourage growth in the e-commerce sector.
In
August 2005 two Gibraltar-based lawyers filed
a complaint with the European Commission against
the United Kingdom relating to Gibraltar's application
of employment regulations for individuals from
the new EU member states.
Alexander
Broch, a lawyer with dual British and Danish nationality,
and his Swedish colleague, Fredrik Green argued
that the transitional regulations in Gibraltar
on the employment of individuals from the EU accession
states, located mainly in Central and Eastern
Europe, discriminate against migrant workers because
they are more restrictive than the rules in the
UK, with workers from the new EU member states
obliged to apply for a valid worker permit from
the Gibraltar authorities before being given permission
to work in the jurisdiction, while workers entering
the UK merely have to register within 30 days
of arrival in the country.
The
case rested on the fact that Gibraltar joined
the European Union as part of the United Kingdom.
According
to the report, the complaint stated that: “The
most significant difference between these transitional
regulations is that in Gibraltar there exists
the possibility to deny a worker a work permit
and in doing so, prevent that person from working
in Gibraltar. This possibility does not exist
in the United Kingdom, where the transitional
regulations cannot so hinder anyone from registering
as a worker.”
Mr
Broch said that if the EC upholds the complaint,
it may well open to door to compensation claims
from the many Eastern European workers who have
tried to find work in Gibraltar.
The
system of 'Qualifying Individuals' encourages
various types of special immigrant. See Offshore
Tax Regimes for further details.
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