Targets on vulnerability and protection

All people working in Australia, including foreign workers, are entitled to basic rights and protections in the workplace. Workplace laws in Australia generally apply equally to all workers employed in Australia. Employers engaging foreign workers must ensure they comply with Australian workplace laws. These laws, including the payment of minimum rates of pay and conditions under awards and agreements, are enforced by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

MIPEX is a fully interactive tool and reference guide to assess, compare and improve integration policy. MIPEX is produced by the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (independent think tank) and the Migration Policy Group (European NGO), with funding support from the European Union (CrossMigration project) and the Centre for Global Development Europe. The project also collaborates with a variety of other partners, including academics. 

The Employer Sanctions Directive sets out rules to target employers who employ irregular migrants. For example, employers hiring undeclared workers would face sanctions, including fines and paying back wages to their workers. In some cases – such as repeated or conscious hiring of undocumented migrants, or hiring of children or victims of human trafficking – the employers could be punished under criminal law. Furthermore, the legislation includes protection measures in favour of non-EU workers, especially those exploited by unscrupulous employers.

This project of the EU aims to contribute to the protection of rights of Armenian citizens leaving for work abroad, economic stabilisation and reintegration of labour/circular migrants and the prevention of irregular migration. The specific objective is to empower all stakeholders in Armenian labour/circular migration in order to make migration work better for development.

Main Activities

• Inter-agency networking within migration environment;

• Study of reintegration programs;

• Training and study trips for government agencies;

The Seasonal Workers Directive, which was agreed upon in 2014, should ensure that seasonal workers will enjoy equal treatment with EU nationals in terms of employment, including the minimum working age and working conditions, including pay and dismissal, working hours, leave and holidays, as well as health and safety requirements at the workplace. To this end, it should help prevent exploitation and protect the health and safety of non-EU seasonal workers.

In Vietnam, Migrant Worker Resource Centres (MRCs) were established in the employment service centres run by the Provincial Department of Labour in 2011. This model of an integrated service offers ample opportunity for scale and sustainability. It is estimated that 20% of job seekers that visit the employment service centers are interested in working outside of the country.

The Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment have made it mandatory for female migrant domestic workers to be trained as housekeeping assistants with National Vocational Qualification Level 3 certification. These workers will be categorised as housekeeping assistants, a level above their former occupational classification as ‘house maids'. Their minimum wage also will be raised – for example the minimum wage for those migrating to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be raised to Saudi Riyal 900 (Lkr.

The mission of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in Kenya is to provide accessible, affordable sustainable and quality social health insurance through effective and efficient utilization of resources to the satisfaction of its stakeholders. Currently there are no special provisions for migrant workers, as anybody seeking helth care is treated equally. 

There are measures to prevent human trafficking in the fishery industry by establishing Coordination Centers for Sea Fishery Workers with the purpose to coordinate whose workers are allowed to work legally, to set up a system for controlling, monitoring and protecting workers as well as to provide knowledge to employers and workers to acknowledge their rights, as well as to prevent labour shortage and forced labour as a form of human trafficking.