Andy Ellul (born 1975) is a Maltese politician from the Labour Party. He was elected to the Parliament of Malta in the 2022 Maltese general election from District 3. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue in the Maltese Government.[1] Ellul is a lawyer by profession.[2] In October 2023, he faced accusations that he used public funds to pay for Facebook adverts. Ellul strongly rebutted the accusations, stating that the complaint which related to a video announcing the "Worker of the Year Award", published on the Ministry's official page, was unfounded.[3]
Under Ellul's tenure as Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue, various new laws were enacted related to worker's rights. In October of 2022, Ellul announced new regulations regulating the courier sector in Maltese law. These regulations were one of the first to be enacted in Europe, and they include a rebuttable presumption of employment, as well as obligations stating that workers in the sector must be provided with a contract of employment, a detailed payslip, statutory bonuses, and overtime rates paid by the hour. Furthermore, workers must also be paid double on rest days, while their sick leave must be paid in full, and the law also specifies that no cuts should be taken from workers’ wages, neither for work-related expenses nor for recruitment fees.[4]
In November 2023, Ellul also announced a new law regulating temping and outsourcing agencies. This law, which places strict requirements on agencies, ensures that such agencies will need a license to operate, with those agencies that lose the said license being unable to operate. As part of this law, penalties were raised, a bank guarantee requiring agencies to fork out €20,000 + 2% of the company's payroll was introduced, and agencies have been barred from requesting payments from employees, or working with third parties who request such payments.[5]
Ellul's efforts were also crucial when it comes to raising the Minimum wage in Malta. In October of 2023, it was announced that the Low Wage Commission which falls under Ellul's remit, had unanimously agreed that the minimum wage in Malta will rise to €213.54 per week as from the 1st of January 2024, inclusive of the Cost of Living Adjustment.[6]