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.
The Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) Code of Conduct (COC-VN) was adopted in 2010, and 108 recruitment agencies signed up to commit to its principles and guidelines relating to various aspects of the recruitment process (fees, contracts, pre-departure training, dispute settlement, etc.).
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.
Part VII of Kenya’s Labour Institutions Act of 2007 has provisions to regulate the activities of private employment agencies that engage in internal and cross-border recruitment. These include registration requirements, obligations on agency directors, competency requirements for employment officers, recruitment-related offences and appeals procedures.
Launched in 1994, EURES is a European cooperation network of employment services, designed to facilitate the free movement of workers. The network has always worked hard to ensure that European citizens can benefit from the same opportunities, despite language barriers, cultural differences, bureaucratic challenges, diverse employment laws and a lack of recognition of educational certificates across Europe. It has a portal network of 1,000 EURES advisors who maintain daily contact with employees and employers across Europe.
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)).
In 2006 CIETT endorsed its Code of Conduct of the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies. The Code of Conduct was revised in 2015 to align even more closely with efforts on fair recruitment at the international level and is a reflection of the organizations endorsement of the ILO's Convention No. 181 on Private Employment Agencies.
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.
The Government of Spain's Royal Decree 1620/20111 of 14 November regulates the special relationship that characterizes service within the family household.
The Royal Decree updates the rules governing the labour relationships of domestic employees and sets out to improve working conditions in the sector by bringing them as far as possible into line with those of other workers, while making due allowance where appropriate for such differences as may exist.
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.