Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth - 8.8 on labor rights for migrant workers

Thai authorities have enacted legislation to assist migrant sea-fishers, who are amongst the most vulnerable workers, by fighting illegal and unregulated fishing and labour abuses.

On February 4, 2016, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), an agency of the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) which regulates activities related to Filipino migrant workers, passed Governing Board Resolution No. 4, series of 2016, which allows private recruitment agencies in the Philippines to participate in the recruitment, deployment and employment of Filipino nurses for Germany free of placement fee charges.

Consitution Article 27(ii)

The government provides equal access to legal protection and social services to all migrants. This is guaranteed in both the constitution and statutes. Article 27(ii) of the Constitution states that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. This equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamentals freedoms for both women and men. It guarantees the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

The MOU signed by the two parties in 2013 aims to enhance cooperation on domestic worker recruitment in a way which realizes the interests of both countries and securies the rights of both workers and employers.

Under this MOU th charging or deducting from salary any cost attendant to recruitment and deployment from workers’ salaries is prohibited.

A unified, standardized contract for all migrant workers in Jordan’s garment sector was developed in 2015 and agreed upon by two apparel employer associations and Jordan’s garment union. The contract is helping to end the practice of contract substitution. Also, the contract gives migrant workers a clearer understanding of their working conditions and offers a certain amount of salary irrespective of nationality.

The Employment Agencies Act, 1973, as well as the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations, 1976 and 2003, are the main statutory instruments regulating employment agencies in the United Kingdom.

In 2009, Jordan and Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning domestic workers which covers not only the costs migrants incur at the pre-departure stage, but also while at the destination and even upon return.

Private intermediaries are prohibited by law from requiring fees from migrant workers. The U.S. Department of Labor prohibits employers from accepting or requesting money from migrants for recruitment costs (H-2A: 20 C.F.R. § 655.135(j). H-2B: 20 C.F.R. 503.16(o)), and also requires employers to contractually forbid their labor recruiters from seeking or accepting payments from prospective employees (20 C.F.R. § 655.135(k)).

Malaysia and Indonesia signed an MOU on the Recruitment and Placement of Indonesian Domestic Workers on 15 May 2006, amended by a Protocol on 30 May 2011, which provides protections for domestic workers.

Although domestic workers are explicitly excluded from protections under the Labour Law in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, in June 2015 a separate law regulating the domestic work sector was adopted by Kuwait’s national assembly, providing some labour rights to this vulnerable group of workers – including a minimum wage. The lack of a credible mechanism to enforce this law remains a shortcoming however.