Licensed job recruiting agents are protesting at the increase in red tape, saying it is hurting the foreign employment industry. The authorities, however, insist that strict regulations are necessary to minimise malpractice and ensure the overseas job seeker gets the most out of the overseas experience.
“The mounting paper work is irritating, to say the least,” says Faizer Mackeen, secretary, Associated Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA). “This means long delays. At the end of the day, the prospective employer is pushed to look elsewhere for recruits and the country loses vital foreign exchange.”Mr. Mackeen says male and female recruits must attend a training camp organised by the Foreign Employment Bureau before they can take up jobs overseas. What they learn at the camp they can pick up from a handbook, he says.
“At the camp, they are told about the rules and regulations in the receiving country, weather patterns, currency conversions, and so on. Giving them a handbook with all this information would save a lot of time and money,” Mr. Mackeen says.
This is especially unfair to recruits living far from Colombo. “They have to spend five days in the city to attend the camp,” he says. “Furthermore, airlines have been instructed to issue tickets only after the recruit pays the Bureau an insurance fee. The fee varies according to the stipulated salary, and this is determined only after the letter of contract between employer and employee is submitted.
“This is easy enough when you are dealing with reputed and registered companies, but those taking up employment through private and individual channels face a hurdle because there are no official contracts,” says ALFEA vice-president, M. Mansoor.
H. Ruhunuge, deputy general manager of the Foreign Employment Bureau, told the Sunday Times that such regulations were necessary to maintain checks on errant recruiting agencies.
He said the letter of agreement (contract) between employer and employee was largely to protect the worker on his/her arrival in a foreign country.
According to Mr. Ruhunuge, the five-day training programme for males was necessary as many were leaving the country for the first time and were ignorant of rules and regulations and working conditions in the receiving state.
“We need to keep track of those going abroad for employment and register details such as the sponsor, salary, description of work, and so on,” Mr. Ruhunuge added. |
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