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Crackdown on foreign helpers
New work permit regime to be implemented this month
LUKE DOUGLAS, Observer writer [email protected]
Friday, April 04, 2008
OVERSEAS household helpers will be among those likely to have their work permit applications turned down under a new system to be introduced by the government later this month.
"I am bothered by the number of Jamaicans applying for Filipino helpers; when you go to some apartments on a wash day you think you're in China. Not a word of English is spoken. That is not going to work," Labour Minister Pearnel Charles said Wednesday night.
The labour minister promised that the new system of applying for work permits for overseas workers would be more flexible and efficient, and would be taking into consideration the unique features of each particular business.
Charles was firm, however, that work permits would not be granted for jobs that can be done by Jamaicans, unless credible reasons were given for not hiring locals.
"Is it fair to allow you to carry 20 construction labourers from Santo Domingo to Jamaica when we have 500 labourers outside the gate ready to do the work?" said Charles. "I am not going to say every time you want a cup of tea, you bring someone from Spain to serve the cup of tea," Charles quipped.
The minister, speaking at a forum hosted by the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), said the new system will seek to balance requirements for specialised workers from abroad with the need to create jobs for Jamaicans.
"I wouldn't vote for a politician who takes away my job and gives it to someone overseas, although I am capable of doing it," Charles added.
He told the forum that for every foreigner given a work permit, a Jamaican must be hired to understudy that person over a two or three-year period.
"Within two or three years, if the (Jamaican trainee) is not up to the required standard, the work permit will be extended. It must be more expensive for you to send for the workers abroad, so you should be saving money," he said.
Company representatives at the forum expressed concern about the time it took for work permits to be approved; exemptions for workers on short-term projects; the bureaucracy involved; and the difficulty in accessing the ministry by telephone.
Mark McKenzie, the managing director of Red Stripe, said there was a need for global companies to strategically move their personnel.
"You may well find a global company moving a Jamaican to the States because he is the right person for the job, and not because they can't find qualified people in the States," said McKenzie.
Vice-president for human resources at SuperClubs, Errol Holmes, expressed frustration with the application process for foreign workers for the tourism sector, which involved applying to both the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Labour.
The JEF's chief executive officer Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, meanwhile, said that having a worker from abroad may be integral to a particular business. "When I choose a Chinese restaurant it's because they have authentic Chinese chefs. I know the difference. Perception is a big part of business," she said.
Charles, in response, said he was sensitive to the fact that entrepreneurs may require a particular individual from abroad to fill a position.
"There are (non-Jamaican) people here running a restaurant, or selling diamonds and they want a person from their country to come here. I can understand that; if you go downtown Kingston you would be surprised to see how many Chinese (or other Asians) are there. They have work permits and are doing a service that the Jamaicans run gone and leave. That Chinese man is more comfortable with his nephew from China collecting the money, and I understand that too," Charles said.
The minister also sought to reassure the gathering that the system was being made more efficient by computerisation and the addition of more phone lines.
He said that he had signed 170 work permits "in the last hour" and expected to clear his desk of work permit applications during the next few days.
New work permit regime to be implemented this month
LUKE DOUGLAS, Observer writer [email protected]
Friday, April 04, 2008
OVERSEAS household helpers will be among those likely to have their work permit applications turned down under a new system to be introduced by the government later this month.
"I am bothered by the number of Jamaicans applying for Filipino helpers; when you go to some apartments on a wash day you think you're in China. Not a word of English is spoken. That is not going to work," Labour Minister Pearnel Charles said Wednesday night.
The labour minister promised that the new system of applying for work permits for overseas workers would be more flexible and efficient, and would be taking into consideration the unique features of each particular business.
Charles was firm, however, that work permits would not be granted for jobs that can be done by Jamaicans, unless credible reasons were given for not hiring locals.
"Is it fair to allow you to carry 20 construction labourers from Santo Domingo to Jamaica when we have 500 labourers outside the gate ready to do the work?" said Charles. "I am not going to say every time you want a cup of tea, you bring someone from Spain to serve the cup of tea," Charles quipped.
The minister, speaking at a forum hosted by the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), said the new system will seek to balance requirements for specialised workers from abroad with the need to create jobs for Jamaicans.
"I wouldn't vote for a politician who takes away my job and gives it to someone overseas, although I am capable of doing it," Charles added.
He told the forum that for every foreigner given a work permit, a Jamaican must be hired to understudy that person over a two or three-year period.
"Within two or three years, if the (Jamaican trainee) is not up to the required standard, the work permit will be extended. It must be more expensive for you to send for the workers abroad, so you should be saving money," he said.
Company representatives at the forum expressed concern about the time it took for work permits to be approved; exemptions for workers on short-term projects; the bureaucracy involved; and the difficulty in accessing the ministry by telephone.
Mark McKenzie, the managing director of Red Stripe, said there was a need for global companies to strategically move their personnel.
"You may well find a global company moving a Jamaican to the States because he is the right person for the job, and not because they can't find qualified people in the States," said McKenzie.
Vice-president for human resources at SuperClubs, Errol Holmes, expressed frustration with the application process for foreign workers for the tourism sector, which involved applying to both the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Labour.
The JEF's chief executive officer Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, meanwhile, said that having a worker from abroad may be integral to a particular business. "When I choose a Chinese restaurant it's because they have authentic Chinese chefs. I know the difference. Perception is a big part of business," she said.
Charles, in response, said he was sensitive to the fact that entrepreneurs may require a particular individual from abroad to fill a position.
"There are (non-Jamaican) people here running a restaurant, or selling diamonds and they want a person from their country to come here. I can understand that; if you go downtown Kingston you would be surprised to see how many Chinese (or other Asians) are there. They have work permits and are doing a service that the Jamaicans run gone and leave. That Chinese man is more comfortable with his nephew from China collecting the money, and I understand that too," Charles said.
The minister also sought to reassure the gathering that the system was being made more efficient by computerisation and the addition of more phone lines.
He said that he had signed 170 work permits "in the last hour" and expected to clear his desk of work permit applications during the next few days.
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