Global database: Definition of fees and related costs in national laws and policies

This map  displays a global database of national laws, policies and regulations (policies) that have defined recruitment fees and related costs.

The data collection was undertaken in 2018 in preparation for a global study  to support the Tripartite Meeting of Experts to Define Recruitment Fees and Costs . This meeting led to the adoption of the ILO definition of recruitment fees and related costs, to be read in conjunction with the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment .

The global study scoped the national laws and policies applied to public and private employment agencies and focused on formal channels of recruitment. Overall, the database contains policies of 90 countries that took a position or definition on the regulation or prohibition of recruitment fees and related costs. The two colours of the map indicate whether the policy regulates or prohibits the charging of recruitment fees and/or related costs to the worker. Clicking on a country will display (below the map) information about whether the policy applies to national recruitment, international recruitment of workers, and provide links to the policy.