Building Blocks for the Establishment of Temporary Labour Migration Programs

2nd RCM Workshop on Temporary Migrant Workers ProgramsSanto Domingo, Republica Dominicana, April 28-29, 2011

Purpose

Creating a temporary foreign worker program requires governments to work through a series of steps and to make decisions.

• Establish the key questions that a country needs to address in order to structure and build a Temporary Labour Migration Program (TLMP)

• Focus only on the essentials at this stage

• Each question raises specific issues for the operation and management of a TLMP, but these are a next step after the initial structure is laid out

Key questions

What are the goals of a TLMP?

What are the legal rules surrounding entry for migrant workers?

What is the legal status of a migrant worker?

What worker protection mechanisms exist?

What is the role of employers?

What are the labour market needs?

How to meet labour market needs with a TLMP?

Will sending countries play a role?

What are the goals of a TLMP?

Addressing labour needs of employers and industry and support economic growth?

Protecting the domestic labour market?

Protecting the integrity of the immigration system - provide a legal avenue and protection for existing migrant movements?

Temporary or permanent programs - structural and ongoing needs?

What are the legal rules surrounding entry for migrant workers?

Options depend on existing legal system and purpose of the TLMP

Specific legislation or adding to existing laws?

Programs established under mandates of ministries or other?

Are rules “transparent”? are they clearly spelled in law / prescriptive legislation? Or based mostly on regulations, policies, guidelines or other

more flexible mechanisms?

What is the capacity to enforce provisions?

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What is the role of employers?

Open to all employers or limited?

Sector-based, coordinated, individual?

Requirements/fees/costs on employers for hiring of temporary migrants?

Employer registries?

Monitoring and compliance frameworks?

What are the labour market needs?

High-skilled, semi-skilled, and/or lower-skilled?

Driven by employer demand or migrant workers’ arrival?

Seasonal or ongoing?

Other?

How to meet labour needs with a TLMP?

Labour market needs raise operational questions. For example:

Open to all occupations or limited?

Numbers respond to employer demand or limited?

Labour market tests / proof of need (case-by-case or open admissions)?

What skill or education levels are needed?

Same criteria for all skill levels or variations?

What document is provided to migrant workers guaranteeing their status?

Do work permits open or tied to a specific employer/ occupation?

Do migrant workers have the same rights that are enjoyed by local workers?

Are migrant workers paid the same as domestic workers?

Do migrant workers pay tax?

What access do migrants workers have to domestic health and social services?

What is the legal status of a migrant worker?

What worker protection mechanisms exist?

Same labour protections as country nationals or limited?

Awareness of protections by temporary migrants?

Access to recourse mechanisms by temporary migrants?

Role of interested parties (e.g. source country governments, international organizations, labour unions, advocacy groups)

Will sending countries play a role?

Formal or informal relationship with receiving countries?

Role in promotion and recruitment in receiving country?

Role in assisting nationals during employment abroad?

Programs for returning workers? (Development, health monitoring, etc.)

Each question and each stage of a LMTP raises its own set of questions and options

For example

Is movement solely temporary or are there pathways to permanent residence?

Will third parties and labour recruiters play a role?

Tracking, monitoring and employment information systems and sharing?

Will resources allow monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and how will rules be enforced?

Single ministry or multiple ministries or agencies?