Research and Policy Brief: Avenues for exploited migrant workers to remain in their country of employment to pursue labour remedies

Exploited migrant workers often don't raise complaints because they fear losing their visa or being deported. There is generally no opportunity for migrant workers to pursue wage claims at the end of their stay because they must immediately leave the country.

As a result, abusive employers are never held to account, and the vast majority return home without the wages they are owed. Pursuing claims after they leave is extremely difficult.

Governments must create migration frameworks that reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers who address exploitation, and enable exploited migrants to extend their stay for a short period in the country of employment to remedy wage theft and hold employers accountable for labour violations.

This new Research and Policy Brief sets out best practice models that governments should consider implementing, with discussion of current global examples of promising laws and policies intended to achieve these goals.

This includes current examples of

• visa portability for exploited migrant workers to bring claims and find a new sponsor,

• short term visas with work rights to pursue wage claims at the end of a migrant worker’s stay,

• deferral of removal (with work rights) for undocumented workers who pursue labour claims, and

• visas for victims of trafficking and criminal wage theft and exploitation to pursue civil labour claims.

The Brief is accompanied by a more detailed case study of recent advances in the United States.

 

Looking at Labour Mobility Initiatives From the Private Sector Perspective: Key Lessons Learned.

The present report presents a summary of the views expressed by companies from the private sector established in the four EU Member States participating to the MATCH project which seeks to address workforce challenges by enabling young professionals from Nigeria and Senegal to work for companies in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg or the Netherlands. The perspectives of the private sector were gathered through on-line awareness raising sessions and dedicated workshops aiming at highlighting the benefits of legal pathways for migration and skills partnerships with Africa. Careful listening and dialogue with companies allowed the project partners to better understand the concerns and motivations of companies in joining a project such as the MATCH project. Together with surveys and data collection, exchanges with companies are also deemed to be essential to follow closely the evolution of the labour market and stay agile to unexpected developments.

Global labour recruitment in a supply chain context

This working paper discusses regulatory models and other measures available to stop abusive recruitment practices. It seeks to explain why the labour recruitment market operates as it does, and to propose responses that combat those market forces which create an environment conducive to abuse and fraud.

 

The paper suggests an approach that reshapes the market for recruitment services by engaging with employers in destination countries at the top of the labour supply chain, who could play a key role in influencing the recruitment business worldwide.

It presents several case studies through which this approach was tested through regulatory efforts, such as the Philippines, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, several Canadian provinces; and in three agreements negotiated with employers by United States agricultural workers’ organizations to govern the terms of recruitment for migrant workers further down the chain.

This paper draws on these public and private sectors’ case studies to propose regulatory and market approaches that promote fair recruitment practices.